The Road Back
by Don'tForgetTheNotes
Summary: Sequel to In A Heartbeat. After surviving being taken hostage the StarKids must begin the slow process of trying to get their lives back on track. Will contain slight shipping of Laurwalk, Breredith and Joime (but only a little :'))
1. Chapter 1

_A/N: Hey guys! Okay so here's the first chapter for the sequel to In A Heartbeat! Just so you know this starts 7 weeks after the end of In A Heartbeat. Hope you enjoy!_

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Lauren sat down on her bed and sighed. There was something she was meant to be doing but she couldn't for the life of her remember what it was. The memory loss caused by the accident was still pretty bad and she often found herself suddenly forgetting what she had meant to do. She looked around her room and wrinkled her nose. Despite having stuck stuff on the walls to make it more homely, her room at the rehabilitation centre still felt like a hospital room. After a few more moments of trying to remember she gave up, lay down and looked out of the window. The white fluffy clouds were drifting aimlessly across the sky and Lauren felt her mind drifting off with them, until there was a knock on the door.

'Come in.'

The door opened and a nurse peered his head round the door.

'Lauren, your visitors have been waiting for you to come and pick them up for 15 minutes.'

She sat up quickly and gasped. That was what she had forgotten. Julia and Jaime were coming to visit her. How could she have forgotten about them? The nurse seemed to notice the change in her expression.

'Your memory will get better.'

'When?'

'In time.'

She huffed as she walked past the nurse and out into the corridor. She was fed up of hearing people say her memory would get better eventually; she wanted a solid answer, although she knew she wouldn't get one. It was starting to worry her as she was finding more and more things that she couldn't remember. Movies, books, events, song lyrics, it was all gone and the longer it was gone the more worried she became that it was never coming back. However as she rounded the corner and  
the sight of her two friends sat at the visitor reception came into view, she pushed the thought from her mind. As they noticed her they screamed and ran towards her, she laughed and pulled them both into tight hugs. It felt like so long ago that she had last seen them and yet it had only been a week since she had been discharged from the hospital and sent to the centre.

'Come on, we can sit in the social area, there's more space than my room.'

Julia smiled and nodded as Lauren spoke. She couldn't believe how well she was looking. However as she turned away to lead them in the right direction, Julia's heart skipped a beat because on the back of Lauren's head, she could just about make out the dark scar from the operation. It suddenly struck her how lucky Lauren was to be alive, but she was alive, they hadn't lost her. She smiled to herself at this thought.

Julia and Jaime followed Lauren into a large room where the furniture was arranged in an informal setting with groupings of two or three sofas dotted around the room. Lauren led them over to a free sofa and sat down. Julia looked around the room. The centre Lauren was at was especially for brain tumour patients so she was in the best place but Julia hated that she was so far away. She thought about what the  
doctor who'd met them had said. Lauren had suffered pretty severe memory loss, they didn't know the extent of the loss or what she had forgotten but Julia couldn't help but think of what had happened 3 weeks ago whilst Lauren had still been in hospital.

* * *

**3 weeks ago**

Lauren sighed as she shuffled right up to the end of the bed making sure she didn't pull out her drip as she went so that Jaime could cram on. There were now three of them on the bed, her, Julia and Jaime. They were lucky her bed had side bars on, as if not she would have been on the floor by now. Seeing as she was the one in hospital she felt she should at least have her bed to herself but she was happy they  
were here. Being in hospital was really getting her down so she needed something to smile about. They were having a girls' night, well as much of a girls' night you could have in a hospital. Denise and Meredith had pulled chairs up to the bed and they all watched as Julia opened her laptop.

'What are we watching?'

Julia smiled to herself, they had all agreed to have a blast from the past and watch AVPM but it was going to be a surprise for Lauren. She turned to her side as she heard Lauren wince and her heart sank a little. Lauren had her eyes closed and was rubbing her head, Julia watched as she pressed the button connected to her drip and a dose of pain relief was sent into her system. Lauren didn't like talking about  
the pain; Julia felt this was because it was a lot worse than she was letting on to. However as she saw Lauren's face soften as the painkillers took effect she looked back at her laptop. They were still in the early stages of her recovery and things would get better. She could see the signs of progress in the others, Jaime's lip had healed and Meredith didn't have to wear as much strapping on her fingers  
anymore. So they were slowly but surely getting there. She opened the Internet and searched for the StarKid website and clicked on the shows link. It struck her as odd that Lauren hadn't made a comment on which website she was on but as she glanced sideways she saw she was rummaging through the bag of snacks Denise had just dumped on her legs. Finally she looked at the screen as Julia clicked on the first video and the music started playing. The four girls held their breath as they waited for Lauren to roll her eyes or laugh but her expression became puzzled.

'Wait, someone actually made a Harry Potter musical?'

Lauren stared round at her friends as they all stopped and looked at her with concerned expressions on their faces. She couldn't understand why her question had had such an effect.

'We made it Lo.'

She held Julia's eyes as she spoke, she seemed hesitant to answer. They had made it? Lauren thought hard, why couldn't she remember? She watched as the opening song played out. She saw Darren and Joey and then Bonnie but she couldn't make the connection to the memories of being it in. A pain shot through her head as she strained to try and remember and then finally it all came flooding back.

'I played Draco didn't I?'

Jaime shared a worried glance with the other girls. They were still running tests to find the full extent of the internal damage Lauren had received to her head but it sent an uneasy feeling through Jaime to think Lauren's memory had been affected. There had been signs over the past few weeks, such as she'd gotten names mixed up or forgotten the names of objects but they'd kidded themselves that this could happen to anyone but they couldn't explain away forgetting a whole show like that. She watched as Lauren put her head in her hands and then heard her sniff. The musical was forgotten as they all moved and put their arms around her. Jaime couldn't actually reach her but she rubbed her arm reassuring, she couldn't see her face as Julia had pulled her against her shoulder.

Julia could feel Lauren shaking. She was very quiet but Julia could tell she was crying. She was finding it very hard not to cry herself. It had been four weeks since Lauren had come out of the coma and she was recovering well, speech had come back almost instantly and then walking but other things were taking longer and CAT scans had showed there was damage to her brain, and early scans had shown there could be some damage to the part of the pain that stores emotional memories. Which is why she couldn't remember anything about the gas station, the police had wanted her to make a statement but the last thing she remembered was falling asleep on the tour bus the night before.

* * *

Julia sighed as she thought back over this memory. That had been a sad moment but they had come on since then. Lauren was much better and once she was discharged from here she could finally come home. Julia returned her smile as Lauren sat cross-legged and beamed at her.

'So how you finding it here?'

'It's okay, way better than the hospital.'

Jaime smiled before looking around at the room. It was nicer, the room they were in was bright and airy and the brightly coloured furniture spread across the room gave it a relaxed atmosphere. She thought back to the clinical feel of the hospital and knew that this was the right place for Lauren.

'Joe told to tell you he says hi.'

Jaime didn't look at Lauren as she spoke because that was another thing, whether it was memory loss or not they didn't know but Lauren had no memories of the feelings she had had for Joe. She only saw him as a friend and this was clear in her reaction.

'Well tell him I'm annoyed at him! He's the only out of everyone who has only visited me once!'

'He's been busy.'

Yeah, busy mending a broken heart Julia thought. They had all visited a week after she had woken up and it was safe to say they had been excited to see her reaction to Joe after all he had been the one to bring her round. But there had been nothing. She had treated him exactly the same as everyone else, a friend. It had torn Joe to pieces and no matter how many times they told him to remember he had brought  
her round and that her memory loss was just temporary, he hadn't been able to face her since. Julia looked at Jaime and they shared a look, she knew Jaime was worried too. However Lauren didn't seem to suspect anything as she stood up.

'Do you guys want a drink? We only have basic hot drinks.'

'I'll have a coffee.'

'Same, do you want some help?'

'No, we're supposed to do it ourselves. It's all part of the ground breaking rehabilitation techniques used at the centre.'

Jaime could hear the sarcasm in Lauren's voice before watching her walk away towards a small kitchen area. For the first time she looked around at the other patients. There were men and women of varying ages and states of recovery. By the looks of it Lauren seemed to be one of the youngest here. Jaime also noticed people with name tags were stood around the outside of the room taking notes on the patients. Even though there was a relaxed atmosphere the centre was very strict and if the patients ever wanted to be considered for discharge they had to show constant improvement. They had tried to get her into a centre in Chicago but there hadn't been any places, so she'd ended up staying in the one linked to the hospital in Denver. However, despite the distance from Chicago as many of them as possible came back each week to spend time with her. Jaime sighed, one day they would come and be able to take her home with them.

Lauren took a breath as she looked around the kitchen. She still had to really think about the different stages of making a cup of coffee. It was frustrating to her that activities which had seemed so easy before her accident now felt like serious math problems. She pulled three cups out and then after a moment. the coffee jar, after staring at the inside of the jar for a few moments she remembered the spoon and pulled it out of the drawer. Once she'd measured out coffee into each cup she stopped. There was another step she'd forgotten, boiling the kettle. She sighed; she had been so close to remembering all the steps in the right order. Ah well, there was always next time. She flicked the kettle on and lent against the counter whilst it boiled.

The centre really wasn't so bad, although she had no set date when she would leave as the amount of time you stayed varied from person to person. She had met people who had been here was months but also some who had just stayed a few weeks. Lauren felt like she would be here for a while. She and the others hadn't really spoken about it but she was still finding everyday life hard. It felt so strange to have no memory of over a week of her life. When she had woken up they had kept her heavily sedated to better observe and she as glad they had, because there was one thing she remembered about waking up. The pain. She didn't know how long she felt it for but the memory was still so vivid in her mind. It had felt like someone was ripping her head and pouring boiling water into it. She shuddered at the memory, she still had regular headaches but nothing as bad as that. Finally the kettle was done so she poured it into the cups and carried them back to Julia and Jaime. She handed them to each other them before sitting down again.

'So how is everyone?'

Despite her drink still being boiling hot Julia took a sip before answering Lauren. She gasped as the red hot liquid went down her throat but she had needed to stall before she answered. Thing weren't that great for them. Some of them were still having nightmares about it and some were acting as if it never happened. Julia hadn't been as affected but she hadn't spent very long in the gas station. Her mind drifted to Meredith, she had been really affected, they had finally gotten her to start speaking again but it had taken weeks. Meredith had seemed fine but it turned out she'd had almost a delayed reaction and it was after Lauren had woken up that they found Meredith lying on the floor of their hotel room refusing to move. They were getting her proper help now but it was slow progress.

'Meredith hasn't gone back to work yet.'

Julia couldn't bring herself to say that her friend had had a break down so the way she managed to speak about it was describing Meredith's current working status. By the way Lauren's face fell Julia knew she knew what that meant. Often, if she let herself think about it, Julia was in danger of letting the whole situation swallow her up and sometimes he felt like they would never get back to normal. The ultimate goal was to one day re-start the Apocalyptour and finish it but Julia was often scared by how impossible that seemed. But she knew she had to keep hoping that they would go on tour again. She thought of the others, within a few weeks Joey and Dylan had flown back to LA with Darren and were trying to get themselves back to normal, although Julia knew they were finding this hard as without fail they still called to 'chat' every day. She and the others had gone back to Chicago but nothing felt the same anymore. It was just all a case of living one day after the next and keeping the smile on your face for as long as possible. The gas station story had finally faded from the headlines as new and more exciting news stories occurred but Julia still felt like she was living it each and every day. It had ruined their lives and even though they had been given all the help they could possibly ask for, there were still days where Julia spent the whole day staring up at her ceiling.

Jaime breathed loudly to try and fill the silence that had emerged between the three girls. It took all her energy sometimes to just be her normal self. She was barely sleeping at night anymore as the flashbacks and nightmares were so bad. After Meredith's incident they had all been offered therapy but Jaime had refused as she'd quickly found that she couldn't physically talk about it. However this meant she had so many pent up emotions and each day the idea of having someone to talk to, to let the emotions out was sounding better and better. Because she was feeling down. She wouldn't say she was depressed but she felt so numb to the world and it scared her. She sighed and made a mental note to find out the number of the therapist and give them a call.

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_A/N: Thanks for reading!_


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N: Hey guys! So sorry this is a little late but I'm finding it hard to write as I feel so bad XD anyho on with the update!_

_Littlestarkiddie: I know! :'( and aww thank you!_

_1katiemariee: Haha XD keep calm!_

_Take a walk off my knife: *puts heart back together*_

_Enna: Aww thank you!_

_Peaceful Sunrise: Haha XD and yeah what will happen :')_

_Guest: You're welcome! :D_

_Camoc: Aww sorry! :'( and aww that would be such a cute idea! :')_

_Princessmag: :') and they will :D_

_Doctorpotter: Thanks and no you don't!_

_ThoseVoicesSingingOut: Aww yay! And I'm not really sure…we'll just see how it goes :')_

_TearsOfaClown: Haha epp! And sorry I made you sad! Hugs!_

_I do not own the characters, they are based on members of Team StarKid. Any relationships hinted at are purely for the sake of the story and I am not implying that they are real._

_Hope you enjoy!_

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**Meredith slowly opened her eyes and looked down the aisle but Brian wasn't there. She looked to her left and Lauren and Joe were gone too. They hadn't been released had they? Surely she would have remembered that. So where were they? There was complete silence within the store; she couldn't even hear anyone breathing.**

**'Hello?'**

**There was no answer from the gun men or from any of her friends. Her breathing began to quicken as she started to panic, she was all alone. However her breath caught as she noticed Lauren's black boots sticking out from an aisle. As she slowly stood up and walked towards the aisle her stomach churned because she had a sickening feeling she knew what she would find. And her fears had been right for lying in the aisle were Lauren, Jaime, Joe, Brian and Joey, and they were all dead.**

**Meredith screamed and fell back against the shelves behind her. They couldn't be dead; she couldn't lose her friends like this. Their faces were distorted into horrified final screams and their eyes were wide and staring. She couldn't look at them but as she closed her eyes she could still see them, it was like the images had been burned onto her brain. She forced her eyes open again and shuddered, there was just so much blood, it was everywhere, on the floor, the shelves and their clothes. It was then that a figure appeared at the opposite end of the aisle. A figure dressed in a black suit and wearing a wolf mask. Meredith's whole body shook as her breathing became ragged. He's killed her friends and now he was going to kill her. She felt fear race through her as Mr Wolf held out his hands and they began to stretch towards her. She wouldn't let him take her, she couldn't let him. Quick as a flash she jumped to her feet and dashed towards the door, but it was locked. No matter how hard she pulled on it, it wouldn't open. She pushed her weight against it and screamed but it was hopeless. Slowly she turned around and saw Mr Wolf's hands were still coming towards her and then suddenly they grabbed hold of her ankles and pulled her to the floor.**

**'Wake up!'**

**She screamed the words through her tears but nothing happened. She tried grabbing onto the shelves as the hands pulled her back to the aisle but she wasn't strong enough.**

**'WAKE UP!'**

* * *

Meredith sat bolt upright in bed and tried to catch her breath. She could hear her scream echoing off the walls and it seemed Denise had to, as a few seconds later she appeared in the doorway. Meredith looked at her for a moment before bursting into tears, she put her head in her hands but sensed Denise moving to the bed and then she felt arms around her.

'Shush Mere, it's all right, it was just a dream.'

Denise rubbed Meredith's back as she cried. The doctor who had first seen Meredith when they were still in Denver had said that until she was better she shouldn't be left on her own so because of that, when they had gotten back to Chicago Denise had insisted Meredith moved in with her. All their friends took their turns looking after her, as really that's what she needed and with not having to be worry about being alone she was getting better. Except she would always be alone in her dreams.

'They were all dead Deeds, and he wanted to kill me.'

She made soothing sounds and swayed her back and forth slightly. It was always the same dream and she had had it without fail, at least twice a week. Denise always got up and sat with her until she fell back asleep, she did it because it was the right thing to do but always because Meredith was one of her best friends and it broke her  
heart to see the pain she was going through. It hurt her to see all the pain her friends were going through. Denise felt so helpless as she wanted to help them but didn't know how. So she had decided the best thing she could do was to be there for them. She held Meredith through the sobs and finally heard her breathing soften. However she carried on holding her until Meredith eventually looked at her.

'Thank you.'

'Don't think anything of it. It's what I'm here for.'

She smiled back as Meredith smiled at her before lying back down. Denise watched her for a few moments before slowly walking back to her own room, although she doubted she'd be getting anymore sleep tonight.

The next morning Meredith opened her eyes but didn't move for a few moments. However as the sounds of Denise moving about the apartment floated into her room she knew she had to get up. She took a breath and pulled back the covers before shuffling into the kitchen. She hated having the dream; she'd had it so many times that she always knew what she would find when she reached the aisle, however knowing this still didn't prepare her for it. It seemed to get worse every time. The first time she had had it they had just been laying there but then their eyes had been open and then their mouths were in silent screams and then there had been the blood. Meredith couldn't see if they had actually been injured, she never looked close enough to check. But one thing that had always stayed the same was Mr Wolf appearing. She shuddered at the thought of the wolf mask; she saw it where ever she went. It haunted both her waking moments and her dreams. Finally she blinked and came out of her daydream as Denise placed a glass of orange juice in front of her.

'Brian's coming soon.'

'You don't need to look after me Deeds.'

She felt bad almost daily that she was weighing so heavily on her friends. Over the past few weeks they had planned their schedules around her and it made her feel so guilty. Whenever she brought up this subject she knew it annoyed Denise but that was only because Denise had told her so many times that she wanted to look after her. Meredith knew this time would be no different as Denise carried on making their breakfast and acted as if she hadn't said anything. She knew the subject had been dropped and Meredith was so tired that she didn't try and bring it up again like she normally would, she also didn't bring it up again as it was a Thursday and Meredith didn't like Thursday. She didn't like them because Thursday's were therapy day. That was why Brian was coming to pick her up because every Thursday she had her two hour therapy session with Sandy. Sandy was a woman in her late-30's and Meredith liked her but she hated how every week Sandy was able to pull something out of her that she had tried so hard to hide from the world. She sighed, Sandy was just doing her job after all but Meredith often left the sessions feeling both physically and mentally exhausted. She looked up as the doorbell rang. Brian was here. Denise picked up her purse and walked over to hug her.

'Bye Mere, good luck today.'

Meredith waved after Denise as she almost ran from the room. Even though she never spoke about it, Meredith knew Denise was often turning up for work late because she was waiting for whoever was coming to take their shift with her and it made Meredith feel sad. She would hate for Denise to lose job. She listened as she heard Denise and Brian speaking but couldn't make out for they were saying and then a second later the front door slammed shut. Meredith watched the door and a few moments later Brian appeared in the doorway.

'Hi.'

'Hey.'

Brian walked into the kitchen and poured himself a cup of coffee. He could feel Meredith's eyes on him but he didn't look at her until he had taken a sip of his drink. She looked ill, her skin was pale and there were dark circles under her eyes. Her normal bright, brown, curly hair looked limp as it hung around her shoulders. She'd stopped trying in her appearance but that was mostly because she'd stopped going outside. They managed every week to get her out for the therapy session and as a group they tried to go out somewhere twice a week but apart from that she had made it clear she wanted to stay home. However when they had first come back to Chicago she had refused to leave at all so they were getting somewhere. He looked at his watch and straightened up.

'We need to leave soon.'

He watched as she nodded before finishing her drink and walking out of the room. He sighed and wondered into the sitting room. As he came in he looked down at the sideboard that was next to the door. It was crammed full of picture frames of all different sizes. As Brian looked at the pictures he felt like he was looking at images from another life. There as a group shot of all of them from Denise's birthday. One of Denise and Jaime in their Holy Musical B man costumes. One of the girls which seemed to have been taken just as someone told the punch line to a very funny joke. In every picture everyone looked so happy and carefree. His eyes lingered on Meredith's smiling face. Brian remembered the memories the pictures had captured but they all felt so long ago. Now they were all trying to wrestle with their own inner demons.

He looked up as he heard Meredith cough from the doorway. She had changed into jeans and her Jim and the Povolos top, scraped her hair back into a high ponytail and was carrying a baggy jumper in her arms.

'I was just admiring the pictures.'

For the first time in a while he saw Meredith smile as she also looked at the pictures. He wondered what she was thinking about as her eyes lingered on each one.

'Yeah, Denise sure does like her pictures.'

He returned her smile as she looked up at him. His breath caught slightly as he thought he saw a slight twinkle in her eyes but before he could properly look, she blinked and looked away.

'Come on, or we'll be late.'

He nodded at her and followed her out of the apartment. Once they were on the street Meredith put on her jumper and plunged her hands into the pockets. They didn't really speak as they walked along to the subway station. As he glanced at Meredith he smiled to himself to see she seemed quite content with looking around at the things around them. They made it to the steps down to the station and headed down. The platform was filled with the last of the morning commuters so Brian and Meredith joined the crowd and waited. Brian had chosen his position on the platform very carefully and his reason for doing so still saddened him, because he was off most Thursdays he normally took Meredith to her session and the one thing he dreaded about taking the train was that as it came in Meredith might jump in front of it. He didn't think she would but he didn't trust her not too. So he always stopped near the back of the platform as it meant Meredith would stop next to him and be well back from the edge. She had said she wasn't having suicidal thoughts but people do strange things when they feel there's nothing left. He pushed these thoughts out of his mind as the train thundered into the station.

As they walked into the waiting room Meredith felt herself getting nervous. Her stomach was churning and she wished she hadn't eaten breakfast this morning as there was a real risk of it making a second appearance on the floor of the waiting room. She played anxiously with the sleeves of her jumper and could feel Brian's concerned eyes watching her. Finally she breathed as the door to Sandy's room opened.

'Hi Meredith! Come on in.'

Meredith slowly stood up, glanced back and smiled at Brian before walking past Sandy and into the room. The room was one of the few things that relaxed Meredith. Sandy always had the blinds drawn and being in the semi darkness reminded Meredith of her 'safe place'. That had been one of the first things Sandy had told her to do, to find a place where she could go and sit if everything became too much. They sat facing each other, Sandy in a leather arm chair and Meredith on a matching leather sofa.

'So Meredith, how have things been this week?'

'Erm…'

She took a breath as memories of the nightmare flashed through her head. Even though Sandy knew all about the dream, Meredith still found it hard to talk to her about it. However finally she closed her eyes and spoke.

'I had the dream again.'

She watched as Sandy wrote this down. Meredith was use to her doing this now but it still unnerved her to see her write everything down.

'Was it any worse than last time?'

Meredith shook her head before looking down at the cuffs of her jumper.

'Did you try any of the techniques I told you about? Because remember you are in control of the dream, you can change it.'

'But I can't, because I never know I'm dreaming until the very end.'

Her voice had been louder than she would have expected it to be and it shocked her slightly. Sandy didn't say anything as she wrote Meredith's answer down. The rest of the therapy session passed as it always did. Sandy managed to get Meredith to open up and she ended up telling her things she hadn't ever told anyone else. Sometimes Meredith wondered how talking about her childhood helped with her recovery from a break down but Sandy reassured her that when it came to mental issues, the roots went deep into the mind. Often Meredith didn't understand what Sandy was talking about. Finally Sandy looked at her watch and stood up.

'And we're done.'

Meredith stood up and stretched before walking slowly out of the room. She smiled at Brian as he looked up at her. Her heart swelled at the fact he had happily just waited two hours for her without even moaning. She waved goodbye to Sandy and waited for Brian to stand up.

'Are we going home now?'

She knew Brian would be staying with her for the next few hours and normally he drag her to some place just so that she spent more time outside. It was nice that he cared however she really didn't enjoy being so out in the open.

'Yep, I thought a Lord of the Rings marathon back at yours?

Her mouth fell open in shock. However she quickly beamed at him.

'Yeah, that sounds great!'

They smiled at each other before leaving the waiting room.

* * *

_A/N: See you next time!_


	3. Chapter 3

_A/N: I'm so sorry I missed yesterday! I've suddenly become so busy as over the weekend I had to write a screenplay for film studies and I'm having to choose and edit the screenplays I'm using for my university portfolio and I just went into writing overload XD this isn't very long but it's because I finally had a spare few hours so just wrote it now :') with this one I probably won't be able to do updates every other day but I will try my hardest :D_

_Peaceful Sunrise: I know but yeah at least she has Brian :')_

_1katiemariee: Haha I update from college all the time XD And aww huggles! And thanks :')_

_I do not own the characters, they are based on members of Team StarKid. Any relationship hinted at are purely for the sake of the story and I am not implying that they are real._

* * *

Lauren walked Julia and Jaime to the exit. Even though she knew she'd see them again soon she still felt sad to see them go. She hated being so far away from her friends, she felt so lonely here. However she smiled as the girls smiled at her and both pulled her into a tight hug.

'Bye Lo, we'll be back soon.'

'Bye guys.'

She waved to them and watched as they left. Her smile dropped as soon as they were out of sight and she slowly walked back to her room. She felt so tired and there was a throbbing pain spreading across her head but she didn't really mind as it had been nice to see her friends. However it was so hard to see them leave, it had been hard in the hospital too. The days between their visits had felt so long and sometimes she just couldn't stand it. Although it wasn't as bad here at the rehabilitation centre, unlike the hospital there were more things to keep her occupied here. She had almost made it back to her room when she noticed the time. It was almost dinnertime. Knowing this she suddenly realised how hungry she was so she made an about turn and walked to the cafeteria.

The food at the centre remained her of being at school again. She joined the back of the queue and waited patiently. A few people passed her and she smiled at them and they smiled back. Everyone at the centre was really nice and she was happy here but they couldn't replace her friends. She swallowed at the knot in her throat and quickly blinked away any tears as a nurse came up to her carrying a tray. She smiled at Lauren before holding out a small plastic cup; Lauren took it and stared for a moment at the tablets inside.

'Don't forget to take them after your meal.'

Lauren smiled in reply before watching the nurse walk away. That was another thing she didn't like, taking the tablets. She knew she had to take them and they were only strong painkillers but she still didn't like them. She sighed as she picked up a tray and pushed it along. Lauren was the only gluten intolerant patient so she always got something different to everyone else but she didn't mind as often her gluten-free stuff looked nicer than what everyone else was eating and that was saying something. Once her tray was full she looked around to try and find a seat. There weren't many people at the centre but it surprised her, how even here there was an unofficial seating plan. She would never have thought you'd find a clique system in a rehabilitation centre. Lauren shook her head before walking over to an empty table, she had quickly realised she didn't care where she sat. She tucked in to her food and was quite happy sat on her own, until.

'Erm, do you mind if I sit here?'

She slowly looked up and was met by a woman who Lauren would have guessed was around 30. Lauren hadn't seen her before so guessed she must be new. The woman's hair was cut short and Lauren could see a scar running along her hairline.

'Sure, have a seat.'

Lauren smiled as the woman smiled at her and sat down. For a few moments they ate their food in silence but then she sensed the woman looking at her.

'I'm Zoe, by the way.'

'I'm Lauren.'

She smiled to herself, Zoe seemed like a nice person, maybe she could make a friend here. However no matter how hard she tried Lauren couldn't stop looking at Zoe's scar but she didn't want to ask what had happened to her. Even though everyone at the centre was there for the same reason as her, for some reason Lauren felt it wasn't her place to ask. Which she knew was silly but she couldn't help but feel it. Suddenly she came crashing back to reality as she noticed Zoe was staring at her.

'I'm sorry, I have to ask. How did…how…'

'How did I get the scar?'

Lauren looked sheepish and nodded. She knew it must be hard to have a scar so on show, Lauren was lucky as she could hide hers with her hair but even so she still felt self-conscious about it.

'I was in a car accident, and you?'

She nodded but as she processed the ending of her sentence she panicked, could she see her scar? However she shook herself, Zoe was just presuming. Everyone here had scars.

'I got pushed against a shelf.'

Lauren didn't actually remember this happening but that was what the others had told her and she had no reason not to believe them. She never really mentioned the hostage situation to anyone as she couldn't quite believe it had happened. The others had given her a near enough minute by minute account of what had happened but it had all sounded like a story to her.

'That must have been a pretty hard push.'

She nodded before laughing slightly and Zoe laughed too. However her smile dropped as she noticed someone come into the room but what had drawn her attention was not the person's entrance but the rabbit mask they had on. Suddenly a memory filled her mind, she was sat against a shelf and Brian was sat next to her, his temple was bleeding. There was moment past Brian and as Lauren turned to look she was greeted by a man dressed in a suit and a rabbit mask pointing a gun at them.

'Mr Rabbit.'

'What?'

She blinked and looked up. She was greeted by Zoe's confused face but Lauren's mind was running so fast that she barely noticed. Had that been a memory from the gas station? She knew it was but why had it come back now? Had the rabbit mask been a trigger? She'd remembered something. After weeks of both her friends and medical staff trying to help her remember she had remembered something. This meant she really was on the road to recovery. However she came out of her thoughts as she heard Zoe cough. She realised she hadn't answered Zoe's question as to who Mr Rabbit was.

'Even though I don't remember it, when I hit my head it was during a hostage situation. Did you hear about the gas station hold-up a few weeks ago?'

Lauren watched as Zoe's eyes widened with realisation and she nodded.

'So who is Mr Rabbit?'

'I think he was one of the gun men.'

It frustrated Lauren that apart from that memory she still couldn't remember anything, but at least she was getting somewhere. She took another bite of her food and smiled.

* * *

Denise let herself into the apartment and closed the door behind her. It had been a long day and she was happy to be home. She realised after a moment that she was stood in the dark so flicked on the light before walking down the hallway and into the kitchen. She flicked on the kitchen light and put her bags down on the counter.

'I got given a coupon for Chinese, so we're having Chinese for dinner.'

There was no answer which was strange as she knew Brian and Meredith were in the sitting room. From the sounds of a full scale battle drifting in from the room she guessed they were watching one of the Lord of the Rings films. She waited a few moments before walking into the sitting room. She was met by one of the cutest scenes she had seen in a long time. Brian and Meredith were both sat on the sofa and had both fallen asleep.

Denise's heart soared as she saw Meredith was resting her head on his shoulder and Brian had his arm around her. She'd always thought they'd made a cute couple. She looked at them for a few seconds before picking up the remote and turning off the TV. Now the room was silent she crept over to them and leant over them. She started poking Brian and saying his name quietly.

'Brian…Brian…BRIAN!'

She laughed as she shouted it the last time and Brian jumped awake. His jump caused Meredith to wake up too and they both looked up at her.

'Hello you two, I brought Chinese food. Do you want some?'

Brian was still groggy from being in a deep sleep. He couldn't understand why Denise was smiling at them like that but then he became of the weight that was leaning against him. He looked down and saw Meredith was sitting right next to him. Meredith seemed to have noticed at the same time so stood up quickly. For a moment Brian felt disappointment but he shook himself.

'It was just a scary part of the movie.'

'Oh I'm sure it was.'

He smiled to himself as Denise beamed at Meredith before dashing back into the kitchen. Meredith followed close behind her, insisting that it had in fact been a scary part. He slowly stood up and stretched before following the girls into the kitchen.

* * *

_A/N: Hope you liked it! And please review as your reviews seriously make by day and I love hearing you opinions! :')_


	4. Chapter 4

_A/N: Sorry this is late but I'm currently having a disagreement with my life so I haven't really been able to write XD_

_Littlestarkiddie: Aww thank you :') And I know! :'( and I will!_

_swimtothemusic12194: Yay! And I'm on it with the writing! XD_

_Dapper Dinosaur: Bahahah they would be XD_

_TearsOfaClown: :') hehe and it'll come eventually :D and I have and I think they say 'Rigger 9 this is Huston' or something like that, it's them trying to contact Joe's space ship._

_Walker'sLampshade: It is your name! Huggles!_

_Obsessed31: hehe thanks!_

_Take a walk off my knife: Hehe yay! Thank you so much! I hope you continue to like it!_

_Peaceful Sunrise: Thank you!_

_Writey Starkid: Hehe feels!_

_hiilikecheese: Thank you! And yeah haha :D_

_mini ninja 132: :') and read this one!_

_1katiemariee: She is! YAY!_

_Kaylaaaonpigfarts: Here's more!_

_Starkidtheatregeek: Hehe glad you like it!_

_I do not own the characters, they are based on members of Team StarKids. Any relationships hinted at are purely for the sake of the story and I am not implying that they are real._

* * *

Jaime moved about in the chair. She was nervous. Her skirt and blouse suddenly felt so tight and the new flats she'd bought for the occasion were already hurting her feet. She looked around at the other people in the room. There was a mixture of people, ranging from families to people on their own just like her. Finally a prison officer came into the room.

'You can all come through now.'

Slowly everyone in the room stood up and slowly filed out. She shouldn't have come on her own, what was she going to say? Julia had offered to come with her but she knew she had to do this alone. She hadn't dared to tell Joey. They were led into a large room filled with tables. She was directed to a table and sat down. There was a sense of anticipation in the room as everyone turned to look at the door at the far end of the room from where they had come in. Finally an alarm buzzed and the gate opened.

Even though she was here to see him, Jaime still gasped when she caught sight of Mr Horse. He didn't look at her as he was led over to her table and sat down. Finally, once the prison warden had moved away he looked up at her.

'I didn't expect to be getting a visit from you.'

Jaime looked at him both answering him. He had been thin in the gas station but she could see prison life was taking its toll on him. The skin was taunt over his cheekbones and there were dark circles under his eyes. He looked even younger, nothing more than a boy. He'd been charged with armed robbery and false imprisonment but they wanted to charge him with attempted murder, something which he hadn't done and Jaime had been having sleepless nights worrying about.

'I'm here because I don't agree with you wrongly being accused of something.'

'If you want to talk about the case, you need a lawyer present.'

She sighed, this was hopeless. They were still mounting evidence against him but whatever the evidence, he was already set on pleading quality. Jaime was helping him because she had seen the real him in the gas station. When she, Lauren and Meredith had been separated from the boys. He had come and spoken to them and said he'd look out for them. He hadn't wanted to hurt anybody.

'Why are you going to plead guilty?'

'Because it's easier for everybody if I do.'

'Well it's not easier for me.'

'Well that's because you've got some unnatural wish to help a convicted criminal.'

'No, I'm returning a favour.'

At this Jaime saw him raise his eyebrows. She could tell she'd stumped him. No one could understand why Jaime wanted to help Mr Horse so much, Jaime couldn't even understand it herself sometimes but one thing she did know was she couldn't stand by and see someone wrongly accused.

'What favour? You don't owe me anything.'

'You said you'd make sure the girls and I got out of the gas station so now I'm making sure you don't plead guilty to something you didn't do.'

'But I failed on that promise, your friend almost died.'

Jaime took a few deep breathes before looked at him again. Even now, nearly two months later, any mention of what had almost happened to Lauren still caused a lump in her throat. However she shook her head, Lauren hadn't died so they shouldn't ever think about what might have happened.

'Why have you just given up?'

'Because what else is there to do anymore?'

It struck Jaime how similar she was to Mr Horse, or Harry as she knew he was called now. Sometimes, in the past few months Jaime had thought about giving up but somehow how she hadn't. She had started seeing a therapist and that was really helping her, maybe something like that would help Harry.

'Are you talking to anyone about how you feel?'

Harry looked at her puzzled. She stared back at him with a determined look in her eye. She was going to get a straight answer out of him.

'Why would I talk to someone?'

'Do you feel hopeless?'

'What do you think, I'm in prison.'

Jaime sighed angrily. He was beating about the bush so much and it was starting to frustrate her as they were running out of time.

'Did you kill anyone?'

'No.'

'So why are you pleading guilty?'

'Because there's not enough evidence to plead innocence.'

That stopped Jaime in her tracks. There wasn't enough evidence for him. Only she, Meredith and Lauren had heard the conversation where he'd said he'd help them. However only Jaime had been able to give a statement on the event. They hadn't gotten anything out of Lauren as she didn't remember and Meredith had been deemed un-fit to give a statement. So in the eyes of the court it was one statement against the overwhelming evidence that Harry had been there.

'Time.'

Jaime looked around as the prison warden called out. How was time up already? They hadn't gotten anywhere. She looked around the room and watched everyone else slowly getting up. Children were crying and hugging their fathers and relatives were speed talking through the last of their gossip. Slowly Jaime stood up.

'I'm coming back next week.'

'I can refuse to see you.'

'Will you?'

He was led away before he could answer. Jaime sighed before following everyone else out of the room. She queued up to get her processions and then she walked outside. The sun felt warm after the air-conditioning and as she walked over to her car she turned her cell back on. It beeped as she received a text.

*Text from Joey*

Hey, I made a surprise visit to Chicago and you weren't here. Julia told me where you are, what are you doing Jaime?

Jaime sighed as she opened her car door. This is why she hadn't wanted Joey to know as in reality she didn't know what she was doing. She was just trying to do what was right, although was it the right thing?

*Reply from Jaime*

No one deserves what he is going through. How long will you be in town?

*Text from Joey*

I fly back tomorrow

*Reply from Jaime*

I'll be back in a few hours, we'll talk then.

Joey sighed as he read her reply. He looked up as Joe walked into the room. He was finally off the crutches but he was still walking with a slight limp. He smiled as Joe gave him a half-hearted smile. He knew things were hard for Joe, Joey felt so sorry for him but they had to try and move forward. So he took a breath and said the information he had been holding on to since he arrived.

'I and some of the others from LA are going to visit Lauren next week, you should come with us.'

He didn't look at Joe as he spoke but he didn't need to as he heard Joe's sharp intake of breath.

'I can't.'

'You can't or you won't?'

Joe tried to control his breathing. Why had Joey had to bring this up? Although it reaffirmed something he had been thinking of for a while. He missed her, so much. She was his friend and he missed her smile and her laugh and everything. He hated himself for the fact he was forcing himself to stay away, he had kidded himself that it was the best way but by doing it he wasn't moving forward. So eventually, after a usually long silence, he sighed. He wanted to see her.

'Fine, I-I'll come with you.'

* * *

_A/N: I don't know when the next update will be but hang tight!_


	5. Chapter 5

_A/N: WOW! How long has it been since I've updated?! I'm so sorry but I'm just finding it really hard to write at the moment…sorry!_

_This chapter contains a flashback to 'In A Heartbeat', just so you know :')_

_1katiemariee: Haha XD and yeah! Heheh and I know! :')_

_Starkidtheatregeek: Haha yeah! He needs to get his act together! XD_

_Thecocaptainofthefriendship: Aww thank you! :') And I hope you continue to love it!_

_Peaceful Sunrise: Thank you! And yeah I always thought she would be nice to him, even in 'In A Heartbeat'_

_Mini-star-ninja-kid 132: Yeah….haha XD_

_TearsOfaClown: Hehe :')_

_Izzy: Sorry it's been a while! And aww thank you! :')_

_BabyUrNotAlone: Haha yay ships! And aww thank you! And yeah they are my babies XD although I have been neglecting them right now but I will come back to them! :D_

_I do not own the characters, they are based on members of Team StarKid. Any relationships hinted at are purely for the sake of the story and I am not implying that they are real._

_Enjoy!_

* * *

Lauren almost skipped to the visitor reception. There were so many people visiting her today, it felt like a reunion. She rounded the corner and was greeted by Darren, Joey, Dylan, Brian R, Julia, Jaime, Denise and Joe. She squealed and ran the rest of the distance to hug them.

'I've missed you guys!'

She smiled as each of them pulled her into a tight hug. However as she reached Joe, she pulled back.

'Where have you been?'

Lauren was only playing but she thought she saw something flit across his eyes but it was gone before she could question it. She smiled at him before pulling him into a hug.

Joe hugged her back but could feel himself holding his breath. All too soon she pulled away and stepped back.

'Come on, I just need to stop by my room and get something.'

He followed at the back of the group as they all followed Lauren. Joe looked around as they walked. It seemed like a nice place but for some reason Joe felt uneasy but then he realised something, he felt protective of her and she was here with people he didn't know and he didn't like it. He sighed but quickly shook himself as they reached her room. Most of them stayed outside as Lauren unlocked her door and went inside but the girls went in with her. Joe had spent the whole week convincing Jaime, Denise and Julia to come with him. He hadn't wanted to travel alone so they had road tripped it together. After a few moments Lauren came out holding a pile of cards.

'Guys! I made you all name tags!'

Darren smiled to himself as she handed out the tags. She had even drawn a little cartoon version of each of them. She beamed at them all and urged them to put them on.

'So Lauren, guessing you have a lot of free time now?'

He laughed as she glared at him and laughed more as he saw she was finding it very hard not to smile too. Once they all had their name tags on she led them to the social area.

They spend a good few hours talking and laughing with each other. They met Zoe, the friend Lauren had made at the centre and she was great. He and the others had even sung a few songs for her and everyone in the social area had ended up listening. Every so often Darren looked at Lauren and saw she seemed so happy. She still had a long way to go but she was almost the Lauren they knew and loved so much. Finally they wondered back to her room. There was a plan that had been hatched between them and it was time to put it into process. Operation get Joe to talk to Lauren was about to commence.

'Okay bye guys!'

And with that the door closed. Joe slowly turned to look at Lauren; she looked slightly confused as to where everyone had gone. He could feel his panic levels rising. He wasn't ready to talk to her yet. How could they have left him? His breath caught as Lauren suddenly turned to look at him.

'So how's your leg?'

Joe thought about his leg. It didn't really hurt anymore but it was still hard getting use to not having the cast on anymore. He looked at her and saw she was staring back at him. His mind suddenly flashed back to the gas station. Of the six left to the very end he had been the first to be injured. He swallowed as the flashback hit him like a slap in the face.

* * *

_Joe looked to his side at Brian and Joey. They were both just staring into space. He knew they were scared, he was terrified. He looked past them and towards the aisle the girls were in; he wished he could see them. Suddenly he looked up as he heard voices, the gun men seemed to be discussing something but he couldn't hear what and then the gun men came out into the store. His breath caught as he heard the girls scream. Mr Cat seemed to be dragging them apart as a moment later Lauren appeared in their aisle. The boys all tried to stand up but Mr Dog was right behind pointing his gun at them. Joe looked down to the back of the store and saw Mr Wolf was pulling Jaime along. Mr Cat threw Lauren to the floor, luckily Joey caught her._

_He tried to pull Joey back but he had already shoved Lauren into Joe's arms and was standing up to tackle Mr Cat._

_'Joey!'_

_However Mr Cat easily caught his punch before hauling him down an aisle towards the back of the store. Joe looked at Lauren and saw she looked terrified. There was so much noise in the store. He could hear Meredith screaming as it seemed Mr Dog was now dragging her towards them. Lauren was clinging to him in fear, so he could only watch as Brian clambered to his feet to help Meredith._

_'Brian look out!'_

_Joe looked away as Mr Cat came up behind Brian and kicked him to the ground. He heard Brian groan as Mr Cat pushed his knee into his back._

_'Put him down there.'_

_He watched Mr Cat nodded at Mr Dog before standing up and pulling Brian down the aisle towards where Joey and Jaime now where. Joe suddenly became aware Mr Dog had pulled Meredith past them and sat her down and he was now coming back towards them. Joe automatically clung to Lauren as he felt Mr Dog pulling her away from him. She was kicking and screaming but Mr Dog was so strong and soon he had pulled her free. Joe got to his feet and loomed up behind Mr Dog. He was busy forcing Lauren to sit down so hadn't noticed Joe was now stood behind him. However Joe didn't notice the person who had come to stand behind him. Joe screamed as something hard connected with the back of his leg. He heard a sickening crack from somewhere in his leg and then his leg collapsed from under him. As he fell he looked at Lauren and saw she was staring at him in horror. She looked so scared. Joe could feel himself blacking out from the pain in his leg. He looked over his shoulder and saw Mr Wolf was standing over him. He had kicked him with his boot so he guessed they must be steel toe-capped._

_Joe didn't fight back as Mr Wolf pulled him back. He gritted his teeth as pain shot through his leg. As he was pulled into position he saw he was down the aisle from Joey. He looked to his right at Lauren and saw she was staring back at him. He could see from here that she was shaking. Joe looked away from her as he wanted to reassure her that he was okay but his breaths were ragged due to the awful pain. He closed his eyes and tried to steady his breathing._

* * *

'Joe?'

Lauren watched Joe as he slowly opened his eyes. Slowly, he focused on her and he opened and closed his mouth a few times. She guessed he had been re-living a memory and from the look on his face, it had been a bad one.

'Julia said a lot of you guys have been having flashbacks.'

'Yeah, be glad you can't remember.'

She swallowed at this comment. The fact she couldn't remember made her feel strange, so comments like that hurt her more than they should. She played with the sleeve of her jumper.

'Well sometimes not remembering is just as bad.'

She heard a rustle and knew Joe was looking at her but she didn't look up at him. Sometimes, when she was lying awake in bed at night, straining her mind to try and remember something, anything of what had happened. But no matter how hard she tried, there had been little she had remembered.

Joe knew he had said the wrong thing. The conversation had come to a complete halt between them and he still hadn't brought the main topic of conversation they so desperately needed to talk about. Joe got the overwhelming feeling that actions were louder than words. So he swallowed and did some completely outrageous.

'Lauren?'

His eyes met hers as she looked up at him and before he could give it anymore thought, he leant forward and kissed her. Her lips felt soft against his. For a second she didn't respond but then for a second she kissed him back. Joe felt like there were fireworks exploding across his lips, but then it all crumpled as she pulled away quickly. And then she slapped him.

Lauren stared in surprise at Joe for a moment as she watched him react to the slap. However in the next second she had jumped to her feet and was running from the room. He had kissed her. Why had he kissed her? That's not what friends did. She could hear him calling after her but she kept running. However there was something else, she had kissed him back. Because that kiss had triggered something, a feeling that Lauren couldn't quite pinpoint but it was sending emotional shockwaves through her. Her head was hurting so much and her vision was going fuzzy. After a few more steps she couldn't run anymore as her mind was spinning. She could just about make out figures in the corridor up ahead but then she was falling as everything went black.

Jaime had watched Lauren fall in almost slow motion. She and Denise had been walking back from getting drinks when they had seen Lauren running towards them. Luckily a nurse had also been in the corridor so had already called for help. They rushed towards Lauren and stood over her. The nurse was trying to bring her round and after a few moments, Lauren's eyes flicked. Jaime looked up as Joe reached their group. He was staring at Lauren in shock.

'Joe what did you do?'

The look on his face had told Jaime he had had something to do with it but before he could speak, the others all came into the corridor. More nurses arrived and after a few moments they had got Lauren into a sitting position but her eyes still seemed glazed over. They all quickly stepped back as two nurses supported Lauren back to her room, another nurse came up to them.

'Lauren needs to rest now so I think it's time for you to leave.'

Everyone nodded before silently picking up their belongings. How had this gone so badly wrong? Jaime didn't want to ask what had happened because the look on Joe's face told her that he was close to crumbling. Once everyone had their stuff they all slowly left the centre.

Brian picked up his phone as it buzzed.

'The guys are on their way back.'

Meredith looked up from the book she was reading.

'Did the plan work?'

'No, Denise said Joe is refusing to tell them anything, although whatever happened made Lauren faint out in the corridor.'

'Oh.'

Brian sighed as he put his phone away. He looked at Meredith as she went back to reading her book. He always felt that each week they were taking one step forward and two steps back. They just needed everyone to get better. Because then they could think about re-starting the tour and sometimes that hope was the one thing that was keeping Brian going. But there were improvements and healing took time. And they would get there, eventually. He smiled at Meredith as she turned and looked at him and he smiled more as she smiled back.

* * *

_A/N: I will update sooner next time I promise!_


	6. Chapter 6

_A/N: I'm finally updating again! YEAH!_

_This chapter contains a dream sequence in cause you get confuzzled :')_

_Mini-star-ninja-kid 132: I'm sorry! :'( hugs! I have it planned out and it will work out!_

_Peaceful Sunrise: Thank you!_

_TearsOfaClown: Hehehe :') and yeah!_

_Starkidtheatregeek: She will!_

_I do not own the characters, they are based on members on Team StarKid. Any relationships hinted at are purely for the sake of the story and I am not implying that they are real._

_Enjoy!_

Lauren stared up at the shadows from outside that were playing across her ceiling. Her head still hurt a lot but slowly things were becoming clear again. Joe really had kissed her. And it was funny as it had almost…it had almost felt, natural. It had triggered something inside her but she couldn't quite work out what it was. Her eyes flicked to the side as she watched her friend Zoe pace up and down the room. Zoe seemed angrier at the day's events than she was.

'Why would he do that though?'

'I don't know.'

'And it seems your friends planned to leave you alone with him.'

She didn't know how to answer this as that was what seemed to have happened. Why had they left her? Lauren got the feeling they were keeping something from her or they wanted her to remember something she had forgotten but doing that was not the way to go about it. If only she could remember what had happened in the gas station, then maybe she would find the answers she needed. She sighed her herself. Once she had come round she had been upset that the nurses had kicked her friends out but she had quickly text them and felt happy that the LA ones would be back tomorrow. The girls and Joe were already on their way back to Chicago as they'd felt they had to get Joe out of the situation. Lauren was a little upset she hadn't been able to properly speak to them as she really did miss her friends and she cherished the time she got to stay with them.

'I just wish I could remember, because it seems all the answers to the future, lie in the past.'

And with that she turned over onto her side and curled up into a ball.

* * *

_'Lauren…Lauren wake up.'_

_Lauren slowly opened her eyes and squinted into the blinding lights. Where was she? She was lying on the floor of an empty room. Suddenly a figure appeared in front of her. It was Julia. Lauren smiled and tried to move towards her put she stepped back._

_'What's wrong Juls.'_

_'You can't remember Lo.'_

_'They said it'll take time.'_

_'But you might suffer memory loss for the rest of your life. Just how much have you forgotten Lauren?'_

_Before Lauren could answer Julia disappeared and she was alone again. But then there was a sound, it sounded like the howl of a wolf. There was a rustle behind her and as she turned around she saw a door had appeared. There was nothing else in the room so she might as well go through that._

_The door led her into a gas station store. What? She looked around puzzled. How had that door led her here? She turned around and saw it had vanished just as quickly as it had appeared. She could hear movement from the front of the store so headed down one of the aisles. Her mouth fell open in surprise as she saw some of her friends. What were they doing here?_

_'Guys!'_

_She had almost shouted but none of them had seemed to hear her. But she was stood right in front of them. She crouched down and looked right in to Jaime's eyes but she looked right through her. Why couldn't they see her? They all seemed to be discussing something but Lauren couldn't make out what they were saying as there was suddenly a loud ringing in her ears. She watched them for a moment but then the whole room spun and when it stopped the scene had changed. Now, she was stood in an aisle, Jaime and Meredith were sat down on the floor with their backs to her._

_'Meredith she's going to die.'_

_Lauren crept forward and stared in shock at what was on the floor in front of them. It was her. She gasp loudly but they didn't seem to hear her._

_'We need to keep hoping.'_

_'But look at her!'_

_She frowned. Jaime had told her what had happened whilst she had been unconscious and what they were saying hadn't happened._

_'She just needs to remember.'_

_Her blood ran cold. They were talking about forgetting, just like Julia had been. Lauren took a step back because suddenly, Jaime and Meredith had looked up at her and their faces were cold._

_'But she can't remember.'_

_'Remembering equals a cure, a cure which will never come.'_

_Lauren could feel her heart beginning to race and her breathing was getting faster and faster._

_'But guys! I'm trying to remember!'_

_'What happened in the gas station Lauren? What did Mr Horse say to us?'_

_Mr Horse. She remembered him! She remembered him kneeling down and saying something to her, Meredith and Jaime, but what?'_

_'You can't remember.'_

_'No! I remember now that he did speak to us! I am remembering! What did he say?'_

_She almost pleaded with them but her heart sank as she watched them slowly turn away and look at the Lauren on the floor. They couldn't stop talking to her! She knelt down and shook them but they seemed oblivious to her presence. And then suddenly, there was a gust of wind through the store and it pulled her away from her friends._

* * *

Lauren woke up in a cold sweat. Holy shit. She had just remembered something. Mr Horse, he was the one who was still alive. She had heard Jaime talking about him. Mr Horse had been the young one who hadn't wanted to hurt them. And then the howl of a wolf. With a shudder that went down her spine, Lauren remembered Mr Wolf. His suit and his gun and his mask. And Mr Wolf was still alive too.

* * *

_A/N: Okay so have any of you seen the BBC show Ashes to Ashes? Because I feel I'm kinda modelling this of that as the main character kept trying to make connections as making connections meant she was still alive. Just thought I'd tell you that :') BYE!_


	7. Chapter 7

_A/N: Hello! Enjoy the chapter!_

_TearsOfaClown : Yes she is! :')_

_sami-sam99: Yeah :/_

_Peaceful Sunrise: Ahh cool! :') And yeah! And hmm…what of?_

_Starkidtheatregeek: Aww thank you :') I always worry that it won't make people feel the right emotions XD_

_Mini-star-ninja-kid 132: Thank you! :D and YES! I passed out when I first saw the video XD_

_I do not own the characters, they are based on members of Team Starkid. Any relationships hinted at are purely for the sake of the story and I am not implying that they are real._

* * *

Joey held open the door was his friend before walking in behind them. They had agreed straight away to come back and see Lauren today, after what happened yesterday they owed it to her. They all signed in and were then directed to Lauren's room as she was still on bed rest. Once they all reached the door they waited a moment before knocking.

'Come in.'

Slowly Joey opened the door and couldn't help but smile as he saw his little friend. Her face lit up as she saw them and they all took turns giving her massive hugs. Joey was so happy they had been able to come back and see her again before they flew back to LA.

'How are you Lo?'

'I'm good, black outs aren't much a new thing.'

He nodded before looking round at his friends. Darren, Dylan and Brian R all seemed so deep in thought. It seemed no one wanted to bring up what had happened yesterday. Why had they done it anyway? They had thought it would be like it was in the movies and that talking to Joe would have triggered her memory to come back. It wasn't supposed to be like this. Finally they were saved from the awkward silence by another knock on the door. Lauren shouted come in and a woman in smart causal clothes came in.

'Would it be possible to talk to some of you for a minute?'

Darren looked from the woman to his friends. He wanted to go as, if it  
was about Lauren, he wanted to know. His eyes met Joey's and they both nodded before standing up. He looked at Lauren before they left and saw she was avoiding eye contact with the woman, it was defiantly about Lauren. They followed the woman out into the corridor and closed the door behind them.

'I'm Abbie, the head psychologist here at the centre and I just wanted to tell you there's been a development with Lauren.'

Darren nodded, he couldn't really find words at the moment. What could the development be? He felt nervous to hear it.

'This morning, in her daily session she mentioned a dream she had last night and the dream caused her to remember something about the gas station.'

He felt his breath catch. She had remembered something? Darren had heard everything that had happened through stories from his friends, Lauren had also been told these stories but he always felt she didn't believe them.

'What did she remember?'

'Two of the gun men, Mr Horse and Mr Wolf.'

Darren to Joey as he heard him take a sharp intake of breath. Even now, most of his friends still shuddered at the name Mr Wolf.

'However how she said she remembered was most interesting. She said two of your friends, Jaime and Meredith spoke to her in the dream and mentioned Mr Horse.'

'They told her?'

Darren didn't quite understand. He had never understood dreams. His still mostly consisted of him running around being a superhero. But it seemed Lauren's dreams were a lot more serious.

'I feel her sub conscious mind is portraying itself in the form of her friends, so to her it seemed they helped her remembered.'

He looked at Joey. His friend was staring at Abbie and nodding but Darren knew it he had no idea what he was talking about. So finally Darren sighed and asked.

'What does this mean for Lauren?'

'It means all of her memories are still there in her sub conscious mind and that if we find the keys to unlock it, she should make a full recovery.'

Joey almost jumped and fist pounded the air. She was going to get better! After the disaster yesterday this had given him new hope. For the first time in a long time, he felt like something was finally going right. They thanked Abbie before going back into the room and they whole time, Joey didn't try and hide his smile.

* * *

Jaime sat down at the table she was directed to and started rummaging in her bag. Since her last visit to see Harry she had spent almost every night researching the US law system and its views on murder charges. Jaime felt like a lawyer now. She heard the gate alarm go off but didn't look up from her notebook as the prisoners came out. She was so engrossed in the book that she didn't notice who sat across from her, but she recognised his voice.

'Hello sweetheart.'

She flew backwards off the chair and suppressed a scream. The plastic chair she had been sat on clattered to the floor and the sound echoed through the now silent room. Everyone had turned to stare at her as she'd stood up. A prison officer approached her and picked up the chair but Jaime didn't look at him. She was too scared to take her eyes of Mr Wolf for even a moment. He was smiling at her and it was knocking her sick. What was he doing here?

'Ma'am, are you okay?'

Finally, Jaime tore her eyes away and looked at the prison officer.

'Yeah I'm fine.'

He nodded at her before putting the chair back up right and moving away. Slowly Jaime sat down and stared at Mr Wolf.

'What do you want?'

'Nice to see you too Jaime.'

He knew her name. How did he know her name? She knew it was probably from all the news reports but it still scared her that he knew. The noise in the room was gradually increasing as people went back to their own conversations, although she could still feel peoples' eyes on her.

'Where's Harry?'

'Oh he sends his apologises but I wanted to talk to you so he let me come in his place.'

'I have nothing to say to you.'

Jaime had never actually seen Mr Wolf's real face in person before. Sure she'd seen it on TV but never in the flesh. His eyes were icy blue and there was a slight curve to his nose so she guessed he'd broken it in the past. She couldn't bring herself to say anything. What could she say? She wasn't prepared for this. It felt like he cornered her. She busied herself by closing and putting away her notebook, she didn't want him to see.

'How about I start off the conversation? How's Lauren?'

Her eyes flicked up to meet his and glared at him. How dare he mention her? Jaime blamed him for what happened to Lauren. He had been the one to tell Mr Dog to go and get Lauren, if he hadn't given that order, she wouldn't be in that rehabilitation centre right now. It still sent shivers down her spine to think what he was going to do with her. However it seemed Mr Wolf could read her mind.

'What do you think I was going to do to her?'

Jaime tried to control her breathing but it became very hard as her mind starting replaying Lauren falling over and over.

'Do you think I was going to kill her?'

She glared at him as she felt her whole body starting to shake.

'I could have just put a bullet in her head from the other end of the aisle.'

Slowly a tear fell down Jaime's face. She refused to listen to what he was saying but for some reason she felt she couldn't move and walk away.

'Death is the easy option and the most boring.'

'You sick bastard, you're gonna rot in hell.'

And with that Jaime stood up and stormed away. However she could still hear him laughing behind her. She reached the door and wait as the prison officer unlocked it. She refused to look back at Mr Wolf, she never wanted to see him again. Finally the door opened and she hurried out into the corridor. Once outside she leant against the wall and sank to the ground. Why had she stayed and spoken to him?

'Miss Beatty, I'm sorry.'

She looked up and saw an older man in a prison officer uniform stood over.

'Erm, come into my office.'

He helped her up before leading her down the corridor and into a room at the end. On the door was a plaque which read 'Howard Woodworth - Keeper Of Keys'. This was the head prison officer. They stood in the room for a moment before Howard gestured to her.

'Have a seat.'

Jaime did as she was asked before watching Howard walk around the desk.

'Don't worry, someone is getting fired for letting him come and see you, but we operate off surnames so seeing as he has the same one as Harry, he was easily able to fool some of the prisons who aren't as erm...quick minded as others.'

Jaime nodded as she thought over what he'd said. However someone bigger was concerning her, the police had lied to her.

'They told me he wasn't at the same prison as Harry.'

Howard sighed and she knew he had been in on the lie too.

'He's only here temporarily. We're trying to have him moved to a secure mental hospital but there isn't enough evidence to point to there being anything mentally wrong with him.'

'But he's clearly deranged.'

'Oh we know that, we're certain he knows what we want to hear so he's passing as clear. The board at the hospital say there's no case against him.'

She looked down and tried to take deep breaths. They had to get him put away where he couldn't hurt anyone again.

'We need more evidence and for that we need statements. So you need to try and get statements from your friends who haven't given them yet.'

Jaime looked at him. The only two people were Meredith and Lauren. She knew if they were going to get anywhere they had to get statements from them. She'd already been told that Lauren remembered Mr Wolf now, so the best place to start would be her.

* * *

_A/N: Hope you liked it!_

_And seeing as I'm probably going to be stuck at home for the whole Christmas holiday doing my photography (who knew you couldn't just take pictures huh?) I'm taking ship and prompt requests, they can be StarKid, Harry Potter, Glee or YoutTube related. (I need to do these or the photography will send me insane XD) I will start putting them up from next week :D_

_Bye!_


	8. Chapter 8

_A/N: Hello! Okay so I feel this chapter might be a little morbid but I watched Pan's Labyrinth in film studies today and I fell in love with the music so I've been listening to it then entire time whilst writing this :')_

_P0tterFanatic: Bahahahah! I shouted it and my mum was like 'EMILY!' XD_

_sami-sam99: Hahahahaha XD_

_Abbie: It is! And yay!_

_Starkidtheatregeek: Aww sorry :/ and yeah! He's evil!_

_Mini-star-ninja-kid 132: Thanks! :D_

_Peaceful Sunrise: Hehehe and hmmm haha :')_

_TearsOfaClown: Hahaha XD and hmm what was he going to do…and thank you!_

_I do not own the characters, they are based on members of Team StarKid. Any relationships hinted at are purely for the sake of the story and I am not implying that they are real (except Breredith :'))_

* * *

Meredith watched Jeff walk into the room and sit down. Both Denise and Brian were working today so Jeff had volunteered to hang out with her for the day. She liked having his funny personality around but she missed Brian. She felt so safe around him. He had been in the gas station until the end just like she had and she felt that if she ever had a flashback, he understood what she was going through. As her cell buzzed she blinked and came back to earth. She smiled as she saw who the text was off.

*Text from Brian*

Hi, just wanted to check up on you.

*Reply from Meredith*

Hey and I'm just fine

*Text from Brian*

Good! So…are you going out for the meal with everyone tonight?

*Reply from Meredith*

I'm staying with Deeds, of course I'm going, she wouldn't let me stay home.

*Text from Brian*

Haha! True true, well I'm glad you're going

*Reply from Meredith*

Really? Aww you! And hey, shouldn't you be working right now?

*Text from Brian*

I'm on my break but I'd risk getting caught if it meant I could talk to you.

No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't keep the smile off her face. She remembered when it had just been the 6 of them left and she had promised herself she would tell him her true feelings. However, with everything that had had in the days afterwards, she had never told him. They had grown so close over the past few weeks and Meredith really cared about him. She wanted to tell him and she would tell him tonight. With Brian around she was feeling better, she was far from saying she was back to normal, but she was further along the road back to normality than she would be without him.

'What are you smiling at?'

She looked across at Jeff and saw he was smiling at her with a raised eyebrow. Meredith tried to act natural but she could feel her cheeks flushing.

'Oh nothing.'

'Okay…okay…if you say so.'

She threw a pillow at him as he looked away with a mischievous look on his face. There was a feeling inside her stomach, something that she hadn't felt in a while. She was excited.

Lauren flopped onto her bed and sighed. She was so bored. There was nothing to do here at the centre. She wanted to go home, she wanted to go back to her apartment in Chicago and just do nothing. But being here she felt like she was constantly being watched and monitored. She hated how often she'd turn around and spotted two of the medical staff talking about her and it was even worse when they wrote down what they said. Yes she had remembered things but Lauren felt like she wasn't remembering fast enough. It felt like she would never leave here. Sometimes, it felt like this place was a prison. She looked up as there was a knock on the door.

'Come in.'

She smiled as Abbie came into the room.

'It's time for our session.'

Lauren nodded before getting up and stretching. She had started seeing Abbie after her last dream as she was more qualified in understanding the messages of dreams. It had been hard changing but Lauren liked Abbie so it wasn't so bad. She followed Abbie down the corridor and through the social area. Lauren waved at Zoe as she spotted her across the room before they left through another door. Lauren didn't come to this side of the centre as much, it was mainly offices so you only came here for therapy sessions. It was a lot quiet on this side and it was calming. They reached Abbie's office and Lauren waited whilst she unlocked the door.

'In you come.'

She squeezed past Abbie and took a seat. Lauren went straight to looking out the window, which looked out onto a garden and didn't look at Abbie as she sat down. Lauren was always nervous about the sessions because she was worried that she'd say something which would set her back.

'So, have you had anymore dreams?'

'No.'

Although she could feel Abbie's eyes on her, she didn't look at her. She was too worried to see Abbie's expression. What if that dream had been a one off? It still felt so vivid in her mind but all it had done was make her remember Mr Horse and Mr Wolf. She still couldn't what Mr Horse had said to her, Meredith and Jaime. What if she never remembered anything else? What was the hardest thing for her that it wasn't just the gas station she had forgotten, if it had just been that she wouldn't be here. It was all of the normal everyday things she had forgotten and sometimes it really got to Lauren but she refused to let on to anyone.

'And what about Joe Walker.'

Lauren blinked and finally turned to look at Abbie. She was confused. What about Joe? Why would Abbie be asking that? She didn't understand.

'Well have you thought anymore about why he kissed you?'

She felt the colour drain from her cheeks. Somehow, since that had happened she had managed to steer clear of it in her session but it seemed Abbie had been able to corner her now.

'No, I don't know why he did it.'

'Well do you not think it was strange that he did it?'

'Well yeah but that doesn't mean I know why he did it.'

'What did you feel when he kissed you?'

Lauren sighed and looked away again. Abbie's questions were annoying her; she didn't want to think about what had happened. She wanted to forget it but no one seemed to be able to let her. So try as she might, she did start to think about how it had made her feel. In the seconds after their lips had met, it had felt like there were shocks rushing between them and bonding their lips together. And then slowly it had felt like a door in her mind was opening and she had almost seen what was behind it but then it had suddenly slammed shut and the shocks broke them apart. And then she was running, well after she had slammed him of course, which was something she regretted doing. The strangest thing was that it had felt like she had done it before, or at least spent long amounts of time thinking about doing it.

'I don't know what I felt.'

Jaime trudged along the street. She was tired but she hadn't seen her friends in a while so was happy to spend the evening at a restaurant with them. She was running late as she'd had an appointment with her therapist. The run in with Mr Wolf had shaken her but it hadn't stopped her from wanting to help Harry. Earlier today she'd done some snooping into his family and she felt even sorrier for him. He had an older brother who was also in prison and another brother who had been killed in a gang-related murder. And the list went on and on. You could probably say his family ran the criminal underworld of Denver so Jaime knew she had to be careful.

She sighed and picked up her pace. The street was quieter than it normally was and it was making her uneasy. She stopped and whipped around as she heard a crash echo from an alley somewhere along the street. Up ahead the street crossed with another, much busier street. Jaime could see people crossing the street and suddenly had an urge to reach them and be among people again. There was another crash but she didn't look around as she almost ran down the street. The crossroads didn't seem to be getting any closer. And that was when someone stepped out in front of her from the shadows.

'Hello. It's Jaime? Isn't it?'

She stepped backwards but instantly hit into the board chest of another person. Jaime's breath quickened but she tried to stay calm. She looked over the man's shoulder and saw people still crossing the road but none were looking down the street to where she was.

'What do you want?'

'We just wanna talk, we're friends of Mr Wolf and he asked us to pass on a message.'

No. This couldn't be happening. If she could just make it to the crossroads. Suddenly, she made a break for it but the man easily caught her and shoved her back.

'No!'

She fought against the man but he was too strong for her. She felt the other man come up close behind her and shove something over her mouth and nose. In no time at all she could feel herself getting woozy. What had she done? They said they had been sent by Mr Wolf. Why had she had to go and pry?

'This is what happens when you poke your nose in other people's business.'

And with that Jaime went limp and everything went black.

* * *

_A/N: I feel the music I'm listening to played a lot in this chapter :L BYE!_


	9. Chapter 9

_A/N: Hi guys! I hope you like the chapter! Also, I always write to music which suits the genre I'm writing (like so much of the music I have is all mood writing music XD) and for this I was listening to a Marilyn Manson song (it actually fit :')) on loop and my mum heard it and was like o_O haha :D_

_Unfudgejourself3: She will be! And who knows! Haha_

_Abbie: Yep! Haha :D_

_P0tterFanatic: I know! :'( And thanks! :') and she will do in time!_

_Starkidtheatregeek: I know! Argh! :/_

_Peaceful Sunrise: …how did you know?! Hehehe aww thank you :') although now I understand why he does such crazy thinks which cause major freakouts XD_

_Acciostarkid: They don't like her snooping :/ and thank you!_

_TearsOfaClown: Freak out! :D and all will be revealed…_

_Mini-star-ninja-kid 132: Yeah :'(_

_SlytherinStarkid: Hello! And aww thank you! You're too kind! Hope you like this update!_

_I do not own the characters, they are based on members of Team StarKid. Any relationships hinted at are purely for the sake of the story and I am not implying that they are real._

_Enjoy!_

* * *

Meredith trailed behind Denise as they neared the restaurant. She didn't want to go. Despite her text conversation earlier today with Brian she suddenly didn't want to go. Being around other people, even her friends, was so stressful. It took her a moment to realise she'd stopped all together and was just staring at the ground. She could hear Denise walking back towards her but only looked up when she felt a reassuring hand on her arm.

'Come on Mere, it's gonna be fun!'

'But there are so many people in there.'

She glanced past Denise to the restaurant window to confirm that the restaurant was in fact packed with people.

'Fine, then go home, but then you'd miss out on seeing someone I know you've wanted to see all day.'

She couldn't help but smile as she saw the mischievous smile playing about Denise's lips. Pretty much every day she asked Meredith if she'd spoken to Brian and Meredith loved how much she squealed when she found out they had. With the support of her friend, Meredith took a deep breath and pushed open the door to the restaurant.

'Well done.'

She smiled as Denise whispered in her ear before following her over to the table their friends were already sat at. It seemed everyone was already here; they were just missing Jaime who had text ahead to say she'd be running late anyway.

'Hey guys!'

Meredith smiled a greeting as Denise said hello to everyone. Her eyes were immediately drawn to Brian and she smiled as she saw he had saved her a seat. She shuffled her way around the table and sat down next to him. Denise sat down next to Julia but there were still two empty seats, one was for Jaime obviously but who was the other for?

'Guys, are we waiting for the others before we order?'

'Who's the other person other than Jaime?'

She frowned at Brian as he smiled at her. Most of the others seemed to be smiling too. This was weird. Although Meredith did feel a little excited.

'Joey's coming!'

And she was right to be excited! She hadn't seen Joey since he'd gone back to LA. The fact that he was back in Chicago made her really happy. And then, as if on cue, the man himself walked through the door.

'Joey!'

Joey smiled as he heard multiple shouts of his name. He rushed over to his friends and hugged each and every one of them. After taking a seat he sighed to himself. Not that he wasn't thrilled to be seeing his friends again, they weren't the main reason he was here. He wanted to see Jaime. She didn't know he was coming as he wanted to surprise her. He'd missed her so his eyes kept flitting to the door in anticipation. But she never came.

30 minutes later

'Are you ready to order?'

'Erm...we're still waiting for our friend.'

'Well I'm sorry but we need the table, so you can either order or leave.'

He looked around at his friends and they all agreed. They would order. The waiter went around the table getting what people wanted before walking away. Where was Jaime? She was 15 minutes late, she said she'd only be a few minutes.

'Has anyone tried calling her?'

'Not yet, her session finished 45 minutes ago but it should only take her half an hour to get here.'

'The bus could just be late.'

Joey nodded as his friends debated but he couldn't shake the uneasy feeling in his stomach. There was something very wrong here.

'I'll call her.'

They all watched as Denise pulled out her phone and dialled a number.

'Hey J, it's Deeds. Where are you? I'm super sorry but we've had to order without you as they were going to take the table. Anyway, cya when you get here.'

'Did she not pick up?'

'No, it just rang and then went to voicemail.'

Where was she? From the looks and everyones faces they were all worried too.

Jaime slowly opened her eyes and looked around. She was in a large, abandoned warehouse. She seemed to be completely alone but she didn't trust that to be true. She had her back to one of the large ceiling supports that were dotted around the room and with a gentle tug, she could tell her hands were firmly tied together on the other side of the column. She couldn't scream as there was a gag over her mouth, but would anyone have really heard her?

How long had she been here for? She jumped as a cell phone started ringing but then realised it was her cell. Just out of her reach was her purse. She stretched her foot out as far as possible and just managed to nudge it but then stopped. The sound of a door opening was echoing around the room and she could hear footsteps too. A moment later four men in balaclavas appeared in front of her.

'All right Jaime, it's time to talk.'

She tried to remember what the two men in the street had looked like but her mind was still to foggy to remember. Her whole body tense as one stepped forward and roughly pulled the gag off her mouth.

'Why are trying to help Harry?'

She stayed staring at the ground, too scared to answer. However they weren't going to let her stay quiet for long for a moment later one had grabbed her chin and forced her to look at them. Jaime was scared, she was terrified. If it was possible, she was more scared than she had been in the gas station. Back then she had had her friends and they got through it together but now she was all alone.

'Answer me!'

She screamed and tried to pull away but his fingers dug into her chin and held her fast. They stared at each other for a moment.

'Because he's innocent.'

The man growled before letting go of her chin and throwing her face to the side. Jaime tried to catch her breath but her whole body was shaking.

'What's this?'

Slowly she looked up and saw the man was holding the notebook she had been using for her research for helping Harry. She watched the man flick through it and slowly rip out pages and crumple then onto the floor.

'I'm just trying to help him!'

'Harry doesn't want your help; he has his family to look after him.'

Jaime's breath caught. These people knew Harry and knew him well. She was angry. Harry was in prison so his family weren't doing a very good job of looking after him.

'Well a fat lot of good his family is, it's their fault he's in prison.'

She shivered as she heard one of the men cracked his knuckles. What were they going to do to her? Would anyone hear her scream? Suddenly one lunged forward and pulled her up by her hair, she stared through the eyes slits into his cold, blue eyes. However she looked away from him as she hears the soft click. The man who had down most of the talking was pointing a gun at her. He motioned for the man to let go off her and a moment later she fell back to the ground. Jaime tried to keep eye contact with the man but her eyes kept flitting to the barrel of the gun.

'Now Mr Wolf told us to kill you because as he put it, a dead girl can't testify in court. Harry can't be charged with murder yet as you are standing in the way.'

'Well as soon as we get witness statements off the last two, we'll have enough evidence to drop the charges.

The man laughed. Why was he laughing? Jaime had spat the words at him like venom and yet he was laughing.

'Oh we know about the last two. Meredith and little Lauren. Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't Lauren still in Denver? She's all alone isn't she? It'd be a shame if something bad happened to her.'

Jaime felt like she couldn't catch her breath. No. She couldn't let them go after Lauren because of what she had done. They could protect Meredith but he was right, Lauren was all alone, in their territory. She wasn't allowed to leave until they discharged her.

'Why do you want him to be charged with murder?'

'Because it's the only way you're accepted. We know you've been snooping so you'll know how many of the family has criminal records. He'd be disowned if he was pronounced not guilty.'

For the first time Jaime realised something, in their own twisted way, they were trying to help Harry. But he was less than 20 years old and he wasn't like the other members of his family Jaime had met. Prison would break him or even kill him. When he finally got out he would have become just like Mr Wolf and just be another lost generation. They had to break the cycle and they had to break it now. Suddenly, Jaime's cell rang again and everyone turned to stare at her purse until finally one of them moved to pick it up.

Brian pulled Meredith to the side, away from the rest of the group as they all stood on the sidewalk. He looked back at the group as they all watched Denise call Jaime again. They had gotten through the entire meal and she hadn't shown. Why could she be? He looked back at Meredith as she sniffed loudly, she wasn't looking at him but Brian could tell she was worried.

'Jaime will be okay.'

Finally she looked up at him and Brian saw all the fear almost glowing in her eyes.

'Then why isn't she here? And why isn't she answering anyone's calls?'

He opened his mouth to answer but couldn't think of anything to say as there was no way to answer. This was so unlike Jaime. She would have been in contact by now. Which meant something must have happened to her. Just in time he noticed tears welling up in Meredith's eyes and pulled her into a tight hug. He gently stroked her hair as her whole body rocked with sobs.

Joey paced up and down as Denise held the phone to her ear. However he stopped and rushed back as he heard he speak.

'Hello? Jaime?'

They all gathered round her and fell silent in the hope they could hear what was being said at the other end of the line. Joey felt his stomach turn as Denise's face paled.

'Who are you? Where's Jaime?'

What? Joey was so confused. He had watched Denise call Jaime's number. So where was Jaime? He held his breath as Denise slowly lowered her cell and put it onto speaker phone. They voice they heard was in no way Jaime's.

'We've got Jaime right here, do you wanna speak to her?'

Everyone shouted at once but Joey finally managed to silence them all and spoke.

'If you've harmed her…'

'She's fine, I'll put her on.'

Joey could hear rustling on the other end of the line and then finally.

'Hello?'

'Jaime, its Joey.'

'Joey, what are…'

'I think that's enough talking. Now, do you want her back or not?'

'Just let her go!'

Jaime shivered as she heard the voices of her friends. She wanted to see them so bad. If Mr Wolf had wanted her dead, what deal were they going to strike with them?

'You can come and get her. We've in the abandoned warehouse on 49th Street. But you have to promise me something. Can you do that?'

'Yes! Anything!'

She could hear Joey's voice almost pleading but Jaime had a very uneasy feeling she knew what the man was going to say.

'You have one week to make her stop her little campaign to have the murder charges dropped against Harry or we kill Lauren.'

And with that he ended the call. Jaime had guessed something like that was coming but she still gasped in horror. She refused to let them hurt Lauren; she was the cause behind this, not her.

'Why are you going after her? I'm the one who started this!'

'And you can stop it, just as soon as you retract your statement.'

Jaime tried to answer but suddenly the man pulled out a cloth and shoved it against her mouth and nose. She tried to fight the drowsiness but whatever drug they had on the cloth was strong and in no time, Jaime was unconscious again.

* * *

_A/N: RAWR! Hope you liked it! BYE!_


	10. Chapter 10

_A/N: Okay, so I haven't updated in a few days as this update is a little sad and I didn't want to ruin anyone's Christmas :'( but I promise it'll be up hill after this :D_

_Now you might freak out a little (a lot) at this update but please bear with it until the end._

_P0tterFanatic: I know :'(_

_Littlestarkiddie: These chapters have been so hard to write as like the StarKids are my babies :'( and high five on girl crushes on Lauren! XD_

_Peaceful Sunrise: I'M SORRY! But you know it'll all work out in the end :')_

_sami-sam99: I know! Argh!_

_Mini-star-ninja-kid 132: She's stuck between a rock and a hard place :'(_

_Guest: Nope! Things are not okay!_

_RavenclawStarshipRanger: I know! I'm like dying on the floor :/_

_I do not own the characters, they are based on members of Team StarKid and I'm not implying that the relationships mentioned are real._

_Enjoy...or at least try to..._

* * *

Julia held her breath as the police officer slowly opened the door. They had called the police as soon as the man had put the phone down on them. The group had then rushed over to the location the man had told then. There was an abandoned warehouse on 49th Street and Julia prayed Jaime was okay.

A few police officers went ahead and the StarKids followed as they had refused to be left behind. The dark, cold warehouse echoed with each footstep they took. Julia guessed that seeing as the kidnappers had told them their location, they weren't here anymore.

'Jaime?'

There were shouts throughout the building as everyone called out in the hopes their shouts would be answered. Silence was the only answer they received so Julia held her breath as they continued deeper into the warehouse. Her eyes caught Joey's and they shared a worried glance. She really felt for Joey. He had been so excited about seeing Jaime again and now this had happened. Julia kind of blamed herself. They had become roommates since they'd come back to Chicago. She should have paid more attention to what Jaime was doing on those longs nights she spent on her laptop. She sighed, it was too late to think like that.

'Jaime?'

They had split into smaller and smaller groups as they searched the many corridors of the warehouse. As Julia pushed open a door, she found there was just Walker and Joey left with her. They were in a long room. Through the gloom Julia could make out the shadows of ceiling supports and then one, about half way down that appeared to have an extra shadow.

'Guys look.'

Joe turned and looked where Julia was pointing. Could it be? Could that be Jaime? Slowly the three of them walked closer and then finally they could see better. It was Jaime! They all rushed forward but Joey beat them all. Now that they had finally found Jaime, Joe finally let himself think about what the man had said on the phone call. He had said that if Jaime didn't back off, they were going to kill Lauren. He hadn't spoken to her since he'd last visited her and he needed to apologise to her.

He turned his attention back to Jaime as Joey shook her slightly. She seemed unconscious. He kept a watch as Julia knelt down too.

'Jaime, sweetie can you hear me?'

He held his breath as Jaime moaned and then slowly opened her eyes.

'Guys! we got her!'

Joey set about untying Jaime's hands from behind the column, once she was free he stared at her a moment before pulling her into a tight hug. He could feel her trembling so he squeezed her tighter as feelings of relief washed over him.

'And what did these men look like?'

'I don't know; they all had their faces covered.'

The police officer nodded as he wrote something down. Joey rubbed Jaime's arm reassuringly as she answered the officer's questions. She had been given the all clear by the EMTs so once the police were done with her, they could take her home. She'd be fine as she had Julia as a roommate, but even so, most of their friends had decided to spend the night so she wouldn't be alone. A few minutes later and the officer had finished his questions so it was time to get Jaime home.

The cab ride home was pretty silent and even once they were in the apartment everyone kept pretty quiet. However Jaime liked it like this, she didn't want to talk. She knew she had to, but she didn't want to just yet. She had a week. It felt like such little time. The thing she needed the most right now was sleep, you could always think better after a good night's sleep. So with that she stood up, said goodnight to her friends, and headed off to bed.

* * *

Jaime was busy typing away on her laptop as Joey walked into the room. She had now taken to researching ways around having Harry be charged guilty. She was so engrossed but jumped and looked up as Joey slammed a cupboard shut.

'Joey what's the matter?'

'You know what the matter is.'

She stared at him blankly. He looked livid. Her mind raced back through what could have possibly happened to make him look at her like that.

'You still haven't retracted your statement!'

Oh. Of course that was what he was angry about. There were 4 days left and Jaime still hadn't done anything about the statement. Jaime didn't really know why she hadn't done it but there was something telling her to keep on trying to help Harry.

'Do you think they aren't going to follow through on their word?'

She shuddered as he shouted at her. Jaime felt so panicked. She didn't want anything to happen to Lauren but still there was this subconscious need she had to help Harry at all costs but did that cost really extend to the life of her friend?

'I have to help him.'

'No you don't! He was one of the people who held us hostage!'

Jaime was angry now. Why did none of her friends understand? She slammed down her laptop and stormed over to Joey. Her breathing was ragged as she stared at him.

'That wasn't his choice. If you paid any attention to what I said you'd know that!'

'I don't care whether he was forced into it or not! All I care about is that if you don't do anything then in 4 days time one of our best friends could be dead!'

She gasped slightly. Those words felt like a stab in the heart, but Joey had only spoken the truth. However the truth hurt so much that Jaime had to look away. A moment later she heard Joey sigh angrily.

'I thought Lauren meant more to you than this.'

And with that he walked out of the room, leaving Jaime stood alone. She didn't even try to hold back her tears.

* * *

Jaime looked up as the front door opened and slammed shut. She was sat in the corner of her room and was visibly shaking. A week was up and she hadn't retracted her statement. She hugged her knees as she heard the sounds of Julia storming around the apartment, she was looking for her. Something had happened, something very bad. After the 10 miss-calls she'd gotten from Joey, Jaime had turned her phone off and since then had been sat in this position. She took a deep breath as the sounds of Julia came closer. And then finally she appeared in the door way. There was no expression on her face as she stared down at Jaime.

'I hope you're happy.'

She opened and closed her mouth but she was crumbling under Julia's gaze. This couldn't be happening. She refused to let herself believe it but there was no way she could close her ears as Julia spoke.

'They came for Lauren, just like they said they would.'

Jaime had closed her eyes as Julia had spoken. No. They couldn't have taken her. Lauren had to be okay, she couldn't lose her friend. Her whole body was shaking, it felt like she was shivering, shivering with fear.

'The rehabilitation centre is in chaos. Four masked men broke in during lunch time. Police say it took them 10 minutes at the most to find Lauren and drag her out.'

As Jaime opened her eyes again her vision was blurred with tears. This was her fault, this was all her fault. She looked up at Julia and it scared her that there was no emotion on her face. She blamed Jaime, just like the rest of them did.

'Did anyone try and stop them?'

She shivered as Julia laughed an emotionless laugh.

'Oh yeah, I'd like to see a load of medical staff stop four armed men. The only person, who could have stopped this, was you.'

The last words hit Jaime like poison. She stared up at her friend and all she saw was pure hatred.

'I'm sorry Julia.'

'Get out Jaime, I don't want your sympathy.'

* * *

Jaime ran through the dark corridors like a lightning bolt. She had to stop them. She couldn't let them hurt Lauren, not because of what she had done. Why had she let it get to this point? She'd had a week and she hadn't done anything to stop it. Where was everyone else? Why was she alone? Finally she rounded a corner and saw them up ahead. A man was dragging Lauren through a door at the end of a corridor.

'JAIME!'

A shiver went down her spine as Lauren screamed her name. For a moment Jaime had stopped, too stunned and scared to move but as the door slammed shut, she set off at a run again. The corridor seemed to go on for forever but finally she reached the door and opened it.

Her heart pounded as the door creaked open. Stood in the middle of the room was the man, with one arm he was restraining Lauren, who was stood in front of him and with the other hand he was pressing a gun to the side of her head. There was silence in the room except for Lauren's sobs. Jaime held her breath as she looked at Lauren, tears were streaming her face and Jaime winced as she thrashed against the man but he held her fast.

'Please just let her go!'

'You had your chance Jaime! You had one job! One job and you failed, so little Lauren dies!'

Jaime felt tears fall down her own face as the man twisted the gun against her head and Lauren screamed. No. She had to do something! She took a small step forwards but the man merely dragged Lauren a step back.

'One more step and I blow her head off.'

She held perfectly still but her breathing was almost ragged. There were other people in the room but Jaime didn't look at them long enough to see who they were. She stared back into Lauren fear filled eyes and felt herself crumble.

'I'll retract everything! Just let her go please!'

She was pleading now but what else was there to do? Her friend was about to die and it was all her fault.

'Oh I'd bet you'd retract it now! Well we're past that point now, that isn't an option!'

'Jaime why didn't you do it?'

She stared, eyes wide open at Lauren. Why hadn't she retracted it? Why had she thought there was any way she could come out of this having saved both Lauren and Harry?

'I'm sorry Lauren.'

Jaime tried to wipe away the tears that were falling down her face but there were too many.

'As heart touching as this is, we have somewhere else to be.'

A single gunshot rang through the room and then a second later Jaime heard a loud thump. She looked up from her hands and screamed. Lauren was lying on the floor, dead.

'NOOOOO!'

Jaime collapsed onto the floor and sobbed. She'd let one of her best friend be killed. Little Lauren, what had she done? What had she ever done to anyone? She crawled forwards in the crazed hope that she could save Lauren but there was so much blood. No one could have survived a shot from a gun that close. Lauren had died the second he'd shot her.

'Lo, I'm sorry. I thought I could fix it.'

She clung to Lauren's hand, it was still warm and if she didn't look at her lifeless eyes, she could almost kid herself that her friend was just sleeping. This was the end of the line. Lauren was gone, killed, murdered. And Jaime was partly to blame. She raised a shaking hand to her mouth, closed her eyes and sobbed.

* * *

Jaime sat bolt up right in her bed. Her whole body was shaking and she was covered in sweat. However this meant something. And realising it made waves of relief rush over her. It had been a dream. She hadn't just seen Lauren die before her eyes. She still had a week to make a plan. Even so, knowing it was only a dream still didn't stop her from putting her head in her hands and sobbing. She felt like she'd seen the future and if she didn't do something, she more or less had.

_A/N: Okay so now you see most of this chapter was just a dream! I hope you're all still alive. The next chapter will be the actual real week :')_

_BYE!_


	11. Chapter 11

_A/N: Hi guys! I hope the last chapter didn't kill you too much! :')_

_Obsessed31: Haha even though it was always going to be a dream, I did think about not putting that she woke up and then just saying in the A/N 'only joking!' Haha :')_

_P0tterFanatic: Bahahaha! XD and aww thank you! :')_

_PenMagic: Haha thanks! And welcome back! :') And I hope this lives up to what you expected :')_

_Mini-star-ninja-kid 132: Haha there is no way I could ever kill any of them...they're my babies! XD_

_Starkidtheatregeek: I'm so glad it came across as I was worried people would now it was a dream right away :')_

_Peaceful Sunrise: Haha sorry!_

_BabyUrNotAlone: Haha when I first explained to someone what I was going to do they were like 'YOU CAN'T DO THAT!' Haha and sorry you cried XD glad you like it! And yeah that point was where I thought people would think something was up as Joey probably wouldn't shout at her like that :') And aww thank you! Love!_

_TearsOfaClown: Haha hope you were okay! And haha I feel that because I always listen to music which fits the mood, all the chapters seem more real with music :')_

_sami-sam99: Yep! Haha :')_

_I don't own the characters they are based on members of Team StarKid and I'm not implying any relationships mentioned are real._

_Enjoy!_

* * *

Jaime silently slipped through the darkened sitting room. She picked her way across the heaps that were her sleeping friends. It touched her greatly that they had all decided to stay the night. However it wasn't any of them that she had to talk to. Finally she made it to the other side of the room and picked up her purse. She rummaged around for her cell and pulled it out. She walked back across the room as fast as possible and back into her room. After she had sat down on her bed she took a breath and made a call.

Lauren slowly opened her eyes as she heard her cell vibrating. Who the hell was calling her at this time? She picked up her cell and squinted as the bright light almost blinded her. It was Jaime. Lauren was wide awake now. Julia had rung her last night and told her what had happened. Whatever Jaime had to talk to her about must be important so a second later she pressed the accept call button and put the phone to her ear.

'Hello?'

'Hi…Lo are you okay?'

'Yeah I'm fine, I have just been woken up in the middle of the night but I'm good.'

She heard Jaime laugh slightly although it sounded more like a laugh of relief than of humour. Lauren sat up and turned on her bedside light.

'Jaime are you okay?'

There was silence on the other end of the line. Lauren rubbed her eyes and pulled back the blinds to look out the window. It was the middle of the night so the street outside was deserted; however she watched as a car slowly drove past. The only light came from the streetlights that were dotted along the street. She dropped the blind back as she heard Jaime sniff.

'Jaime what's the matter?'

Jaime could fell her body shaking as she held the cell to her ear. All she could see in her head was the dream replaying over and over. A moment later she shook herself to try and shake it away and took a breath.

'I'm just ringing to say that I'm coming to see you today. I'll get on the first available flight.'

'Why? You and the others are coming to see me at the end of next week. Jaime what's happened?'

Did she tell Lauren? She knew she had to but she couldn't do it over the phone like this. That was probably why she had a sudden urge to go to Denver and see her, and besides, being on the plane would give her time to think about how she was going to word things.

'Can you just tell them I'm coming?'

'Yeah of course, see you later today then.'

'Yeah, bye Lo.'

Lauren slowly pulled her cell away from her ear as the call ended. As she lay back down and stared up at the ceiling she hoped Jaime was okay. She had sounded as if she was crying and that scared Lauren but she knew she wouldn't know the reason until Jaime got here later today.

It was after breakfast and Lauren walked the short walk to the reception to register Jaime's visit. She was still a little confused as to why Jaime was coming but as she wrote down the expected arrival time, based off the text Jaime had sent her, she knew she shouldn't question it until Jaime was actually here. Just as she had turned away and started walking back towards her room, a voice called after her.

'Oh Lauren?'

She turned and smiled as she saw Abbie had appeared out of the reception and was walking towards her. Lauren looked past her as a moment later a man followed her out into the corridor. Abbie stopped just in front of her and the man stopped too.

'This is Tyler; it's his first day being a volunteer and still needs a tour of the centre. All the staff are busy so I was wondering if you'd do it?'

Lauren turned to look at Tyler and stared at him for a few moments. She would put him at being a similar age to her and he was tall, really tall. He also had striking, icy blue eyes. After a moment she coughed and smiled.

'I'd be happy to show you around.'

She smiled and waved goodbye to Abbie and watched her walk away before looking at Tyler. He was staring back at her and Lauren could the uneasy feeling that he was almost studying her. She didn't like it.

'Shall we start with the social area?'

'Sure, lead the way.'

Lauren set off down the corridor and kept glancing at Tyler. She had only just met him and yet she felt so uneasy. She tried to shake the feeling, she shouldn't judge a person so quickly. They had almost reached the doors that led to the social area when she sensed him stop.

'You're not THE Lauren are you?'

'Depends which Lauren you're thinking about.'

'The one who was in the hostage situation in the gas station a few months back.

She stared at him. Sure it had been on the news but no one had ever come up to her and asked her about it. In an attempt to stall she played with her hair absentmindedly before finally looking at him.

'Yeah, that was me. I don't remember it though.'

'You were travelling around the country weren't you?'

She didn't like all these questions. Why was he asking them? Lauren looked up and down the corridor but they were all alone.

'Yep, I was on a concert tour with some of the members of the theatre troupe I'm in. In fact one of the other girl's is coming to visit me today.'

Lauren had the sudden urge to show Tyler that she wasn't alone. She suddenly felt scared of him. Why had she just shown up so unexpectedly and why was he now asking her so many questions.

'Oh yeah, the theatre group's called StarKid right?'

She nodded slightly. His eyes were so captivating, Lauren wanted to look away but she couldn't.

'I remember seeing you all on the news? Which one is coming to visit you?'

'Jaime.'

Why was she still talking to him? She should be running back to find Abbie and to tell her that Tyler was obviously some crazy person. After what had happened to Jaime yesterday, she should be on high alert to anything unusual.

'Ahh Jaime, yeah I remember her; she was the one who sang right?'

Lauren was finally saved by the door to the social area opening and Zoe appearing in the corridor. Zoe didn't even have time to speak before Lauren had rushed over and grabbed her arm.

'Hi Zoe! Fancy helping me show Tyler around?'

'Well I...'

'Please!'

Although she couldn't see it herself she knew her look of desperation must have been enough to make Zoe see that she really needed her help. Lauren watched as Zoe looked at Tyler for a moment before looking back at Lauren and nodding. She smiled at her before pulling her back into the social area, knowing that Tyler was following close behind.

Jaime walked out of the arrivals terminal and over to a waiting cab. She gave the driver directions before sitting back and staring out of the window. It did feel like she had walked right into the lion's den by coming back but she had to tell Lauren face to face. She was so deep in her own thoughts that in next to no time they had reached the centre. She paid the fair and stepped out onto the street.

She pulled open the door to the reception and was instantly jumped on by Lauren. Jaime held in her a tight hug for a moment before putting her back on the ground. In the next second Lauren had grabbed her hand and was pulling her through the corridors.

'Lauren what's the rush?'

'Oh...nothing, just we have a lot to talk about.'

Jaime almost had to run to keep up and then suddenly Lauren was throwing her against the floor whilst peering around the corner.

'Lauren what...'

'Shush! He can't see us.'

This made Jaime stop. Who couldn't see them? What was Lauren so nervous about? However then she heard someone calling Lauren's name. Why did that voice sound familiar? She heard Lauren sigh and then she was pulling her into the corridor.

'Ahh, I see Jaime's arrived safely. Hi, I'm Tyler.'

Jaime stared down at the hand he was holding out to her for a moment before slowly taking it. Whilst she shook it she looked up into his blue eyes and suddenly she was back in the warehouse and staring through the eye slits, into the blue eyes of the man who had pulled her up by the hair. A second later she dropped his hand and backed away. It couldn't be the same person. She was just paranoid. But the eyes were so similar.

'Well I'll let you girls get on.'

She refused to take her eyes off him as he walked around them and headed out of the corridor. Finally he was gone and Lauren was pulling her along again. They reached Lauren's room and sat down on the bed. Lauren only had to ask 'what's up?' and Jaime let everything out. She told her all about the dream and about the week's notice; she knew no one had told Lauren that part of the story. Lauren let her talk without interrupting.

'So what are you going to do?'

Jaime couldn't look at Lauren after she finally spoke. She didn't want her friend to die but she felt responsible for Harry. However she never got to answer as in the next second her cell rang. She looked at Lauren before answering.

'Hello?'

Hello, Miss Beatty?'

'Yes.'

'This is Denver Correctional, please hold for outbound call.'

That was where Harry and Mr Wolf were. Why were they calling her? Suddenly there was a click and she could hear background noise before she heard Harry speak.

'Jaime its Harry, I need you to come and see me.'

She didn't understand. Why was he suddenly calling her now?

'Harry, I can't just jump on a plane and come to Denver.'

'Don't be stupid, I know you're already here. They knew you were here the second you landed. For example I know you got in a cab straight from the airport to the rehabilitation centre to see Lauren.'

Jaime could feel herself shaking. How did he know that? Where they watching her? She thought back to Tyler, maybe those weren't just similarities after all.

'Jaime we don't have much time! Please come now!'

'I don't want to leave Lauren.'

'Lauren will be fine but the same can't be said for you.'

Her breath caught as he said this and in the next moment she was ending the call by saying she was on her way. She got up and Lauren stood with her. There wasn't time to tell Lauren so she promised she would call her that night before making out quick exit out of the centre.

It seemed to take ages to get to the prison but she finally made it and was drumming her fingers impatiently as she went through the security. It wasn't normal visiting hours but it appeared Harry had somehow got away with having the meeting logged as a 'meeting with his lawyer.' She was the only one in the large visiting room and the silence unnerved her a little. Finally she heard the beep and looked up as Harry appeared through the gate. He was led over and sat down. Once the prison officer had moved away Jaime opened her mouth to speak but Harry cut her off.

'Retract your statement Jaime.'

Jaime felt her mouth fall open as he spoke. Why was he telling her to do it too? It was the only thing that was holding the charges at bay.

'Why?'

'Do you remember what I said to you, Lauren and Meredith in the gas station? I said 'I'll make sure you guys get out but I might not be so lucky.' Do you remember?'

She nodded, she did remember. But why was he bringing that up now? They had gotten out. However her eyes suddenly started to widen as she realised what he was getting at.

'I said I'd make sure you'd make it through this, and yeah I originally meant you guys would make it through being in the gas station but now I know it's more than that. Whatever you try and do to stop them, they will kill Lauren at the end of this week if you haven't retracted your statement. I said I'd protect you three girls and I can't do that without your help.'

Jaime was suddenly aware that her eyes were filling with tears. He was sacrificing himself for them and he barely even knew them.

'But without my statement there'll be nothing stopping you from being charged with everything. You'll get life.'

'Hey, when we first met I was robbing a gas station; to be honest I think spending the rest of my life in jail will be an improvement.'

She couldn't help but smile through her tears as he tried to make light of the situation. Finally she was admitting to herself that she couldn't help both him and Lauren. If she didn't retract her statement they would kill Lauren but then there wouldn't be enough evidence to fully drop Harry's charges.

'One thing I'll always remember is when you all sang for Lauren at the end. What was the song called?'

Jaime smiled as she remembered too. She'd often thought about that moment and even though she had been so scared at the time, it still gave her a warm feeling whenever she thought about it.

'It's called Not Alone.'

'Well that name is straight to the point, because that's what the song makes you feel right?'

She nodded and smiled as she wiped her tears away. From his body language she could tell Harry was scared but also that he was so determined to do this for them. She guessed it was the only thing her could do and Jaime was overwhelmed with emotion by the simple fact that he did want to do it.

'So will you retract your statement?'

'Yes.'

And she would. Jaime had finally accepted that this was one battle she couldn't win but she could still save Lauren and that was what really mattered. She watched Harry as she smiled at her.

'And can you do me one more favour?'

'Of course.'

'Next time you sing that song, think of that skinny kid you met in a chance meeting in a gas station.'

'You betcha I will.'

Finally Jaime stood up and hugged Harry. He seemed surprised but after a moment he hugged her back. She pulled away from him and looked into his eyes.

'Thank you.'

He only nodded at her as if he couldn't think of the words to say. Their time spent in each other's lives had come to an end. After Harry had been led away, Jaime took a breath before standing up and leaving the room. She made it to the street outside before pulling out her cell. For a moment she stared at the number she had to call before finally sighing and dialling it.

'Hi John? Yeah it's Jaime Lyn Beatty. I...I've decided to retract the statement I wrote in defence of Harry Marsh...yes I understand what this will mean.'

She ended the call with her lawyer and breathed a sigh of relief. It was over. It was finally over.

* * *

_A/N: THIS IS NOT THE END OF THE STORY! It's just the end of the constant threat of Mr Wolf still being able to get to them :') things get better now! :D_

_BYE!_


	12. Chapter 12

_A/N: Hey guys! This is a little short and I'm sorry but I've spent all day doing homework (I know I'm shocked too!)_

_And also, if you've requested a oneshot, I'm sorry they still aren't all up and I will try my hardest but this year already isn't off to the best start but they will go up eventually :')_

_ThoseVoicesSingingOut: I know! Haha it had to happen :') and hope you like this!_

_IslaFowle: Hi! And aww thank you! :')_

_TearsOfaClown: I know! But at least Lauren is okay now and Harry is happy to do it and yes Tyler is suspicious_

_Peaceful Sunrise: Sorry! And maybe!_

_Princessmag: Yeah I would have called myself heartless if I'd done that. And I know!_

_Starkidtheatregeek: I know! I couldn't kill her :')_

_sami-sam99: *sings* it's not over yet!_

_Fflight: Aww that would be sweet :D_

_Mini-star-ninja-kid 132: Because they control everything!_

_BabyUrNotAlone: Haha and maybe he's a spy…..o_O and yeah hehe_

_P0tterFanatic: Yep!_

_make-love-happen: Argh! Hello! Welcome! And aww thank you!_

_I do not own the characters, they are based on members of Team StarKids and I am not implying that any relationships mentioned are true._

_Enjoy!_

* * *

Brian carried the two cups of coffee into the sitting room and handed one to Meredith. She smiled up at him and accepted it before carrying on with her account of a TV show she'd watched the night before. He listened and reacted when he needed to but he couldn't help just looking at her. In the past few weeks she'd made feel improvements. She smiled more and was almost her old self. She still had moments where she'd stop and almost lock herself in but those were getting fewer and fewer now. He'd even heard her singing yesterday.

'And then it just ended! Like, do they really expect me to wait a whole week?'

He laughed as she finally finished with a look of exasperation on her face. This was how a lot of their mornings together started, discussing what they'd watched on TV the night before. He watched as she put down her coffee and played with her hair for a few moments before putting it up into a ponytail. There was something he needed to tell her. They had been planning it and now it was finally ready to tell Meredith as he felt she was ready.

'Erm…there's something I need to tell you Mere.'

'Oh yeah? What?'

Meredith took a sip of her coffee and looked at Brian with interest. She'd woken up feeling so different this morning, she felt like a brighter person and it made her excited to realise that she had gone from taking small shuffles down the road back to taking almost leaps and bounds. However as she watched Brian she noticed a change in him. What was he going to say?

'Some of the other guys and I were talking and we're thinking of looking into reorganising the Apocalyptour, you know so then we all have something to work for.'

She swallowed, she hadn't expected that. Sure, she wanted to restart the tour but she was scared. Yeah she felt better but not that better. The thought of all those people and all that travelling was knocking her a little sick.

'Oh.'

'It won't be for a while yet as we still don't know when Lauren's coming home and we need to line up people's schedules but if we don't do it soon, we never will.'

From the speed he was talking, Meredith knew he thought she was going to say no so was trying to fit all his reasons in quickly. However she started to think about it and the more she did the more she wanted to do it. They had been having such an awesome time and she had loved meeting all the friends. Maybe having that as an end goal was just what she needed. She had to take charge sometime.

'Okay, sign me up.'

Brian felt his whole face curl up into a large smile as Meredith spoke. She smiled back, it was a smaller smile but he could see the determined look in her eye and knew she wanted to do this. In the next second he pulled her into a tight hug and smiled to himself as he felt her hug him back. He frowned inwardly as she pulled back but then stopped as she stared close and looked at him.

'Thank you Bri.'

'You don't have to thank me.'

'Yes I do.'

He opened his mouth to reply but before he knew it, Meredith had leant forward and was kissing him. She was kissing him! He kept his cool and kissed her back although the inside of his head was alive with the sound of music. He gently pulled her towards him and held her in a tight embrace. The kiss didn't last long but they kept in each other's arms long after it was over. Things really were looking up.

Julia looked up as Jaime walked into the kitchen whilst humming to herself. She returned the glowing smile Jaime gave her but her expression became confusion as Jaime turned away and busied herself with pouring out cereal.

'Someone's bright eyed and bushy tailed.'

'I know, I just woke up today and it felt like we'd turned a page and everything's brighter.'

She smiled, Julia knew exactly what she was talking about as she had felt it too. They were finally rebooking the Apocalyptour. Jaime had retracted her statement meaning Lauren was safe and they had even gotten word yesterday that Lauren may be discharged in a few weeks. She may still be having memory less but in the terms of recovery she was doing really well.

'Things really are looking up.'

'That they are!'

Both the girls laughed and then as Jaime turned on the radio, Julia jumped up and they danced around the kitchen like a couple of crazy fools. Team StarKid were coming back and people better be ready.

Lauren looked around her room and sighed. How had it gotten so messy? She didn't even properly live here! How had all this stuff gotten here? After a moment she pulled out the suitcase from under her bed. All the stuff that she had had on the tour was still here with her and up until now she hadn't really sorted through it. She unzipped the front pocket and pulled out her camera. She'd had her freaking camera with her the whole time? Quick as a flash she pulled it out and turned it on. She smiled as she looked through the photos, most of them were of her friends being silly whilst on the tour, however she reached one and stopped. Someone else had taken it but she couldn't remember who. It was of her, Joe and Julia but a pair of hands, which she felt sure were Joey's had popped up between her and Joe and were in the shape of a heart so if you read it, it looked like 'Lauren 3 Joe.'

She dropped her camera as her eye's widened and then suddenly there was a pain in her head as she fell back and hit the wall and then everything went black.

_Lauren woke up and she was in the gas station. It was silent but she could hear voices in the distant. She rounded the corner and stopped. Sat on the floor up ahead were her and Joe. They had set up 6 drinks cans, 3 on one side and 3 on the other. She watched as Joe picked one up and wrote on it with a pen._

_'And this one's Brian.'_

_He put the can back down and Lauren realised all the cans had names on. In the next second dream Lauren had stood up and set off down the aisle._

_'So the Dog comes down the aisle towards Lauren.'_

_Lauren could hear her dream-self skipping down the aisle until they reappeared dressed in a dog fancy dress costume._

_'And he fights with Lauren as he pulls her up.'_

_Joe picked up the can that had been marked Lauren and handed it to the dream Lauren._

_'Joe doesn't like this one bit as he loves Lauren and has never told her.'_

_'And Lauren looks at him as she's pulled away because she loves him too but kept her feelings secret.'_

_Lauren stared at the two dream figures as they spoke. She loved Joe? And he loved her? She knew this was just a dream but she couldn't shake the thought that this was the reason why Joe had kissed her. Suddenly dream Lauren started shaking the can._

_'Time is almost up for Lauren and Joe can only watch as she falls to the floor.'_

_And with that she opened the can and the liquid fizzed out and sprayed across the room. Once the shower of fizz had stopped dream Lauren slowly sat down next to Joe and they both looked at each other._

_'And now they can't tell each other how they feel.'_

_Lauren moved closer towards them as they both stared at each other. Slowly, Joe moved his hand and pulled the dog ears off dream Lauren's head. They both looked at each other sadly and then suddenly looked up at the real Lauren._

_'We need you to remember Lauren because it's the only way to make everything okay again and you can finally move forward.'_

_'But I don't know what I'm supposed to remember.'_

_'Yes you do. You yourself said you'd never seen eyes so blue.'_

_And then they both did the sign for 'you okay?' Just like the real Joe had done in the gas station, she remembered now. However before she could speak again the dream dissolved and someone was calling her name._

'Lauren? Lauren?'

She slowly opened her eyes and jumped as she saw people stood around her.

'You passed out.'

She had. Lauren tried to sit up but someone held her down. Her head hurt a lot so it was probably best to stay down. However there was something she really needed to do. She needed to call Joe because she had finally started to remember.

* * *

_A/N: Okay I hope that wasn't too weird XD but yay for improvements!_

_BYE!_


	13. Chapter 13

_A/N: *Creeps in* erm so it's been a while! I am so sorry! And also this is a little short but I've kinda had writer's block but with this one I now know where it's going :')_

_Thecocaptainofthefriendship: Aww thank you! :')_

_make-love-happen: Yeah haha sorry about that XD and yay!_

_ThoseVoicesSingingOut: Haha XD and glad you understood it in the end :')_

_Obsessed31: Woo! Hehehe_

_Peaceful Sunrise: :D and I'm still not sure what's going to happen with Mr Horse :')_

_sami-sam99: Haha epp! :)_

_Starkidtheatregeek: I know! And yeah but she's remembering! :D_

_Mini-star-ninja-kid 132: Haha I know! :')_

_TearsOfaClown: She did! And I'm sorry this took me so long!_

_P0tterFanatic: Hehe yay for everything! :D_

_BabyUrNotAlone: Yep! And she was dressed as a dog because it was Mr Dog who was holding her right before she hit her head in In A Heartbeat and the cans symbolised the 6 StarKids left to the end and they were just in the gas station as that's what she had to remember._

_AllThatIWant: I'm sorry it's been so long! Here's the update!_

_MegADeg15: Next chapter! And aww yay! Thank you for reading my work! :')_

_Guest: I'm sorry it took me so long! Here it is!_

_Guest: Aww thank you! Here's the update!_

_I do not own the characters, they are based on members of Team StarKid. Any relationship mentioned are purely for the sake of the story._

_Enjoy!_

* * *

Julia read the text again before looking up at Joe. He was staring down at the table and she could see his hand was shaking. The text was from Lauren and simply said 'we need to talk'. She turned to Jaime and they shared a look before Julia took a deep breath and spoke.

"Have you answered the text?"

"Of course but what does she want to talk about?"

She watched as he tapped his fingers on the table and refused to look at them. This text had come completely out of the blue but Julia couldn't shake the feeling that it was because Lauren had made a big break through, and maybe, just maybe, she remembered.

"Has she said why she wants to talk?"

"Nope, just that we have to speak in person."

Joe finally looked up at Julia and found she was staring back. Lauren had text him this morning and the first thing he had done was to book his flight for tomorrow. However, Joe was trying to not get his hopes up as what if this meant nothing? This text might not mean that she had remembered and it would crush Joe if he went in expecting the best and instead got the worst. He sighed deeply and put his head in his hands. There was no use in trying to figure it out as he knew he probably never would, the best thing was to wait and see what tomorrow would bring.

**The next day.**

* * *

Lauren paced up and down the corridor and gazed out of the door each time she passed it. She still wasn't sure what exactly she wanted to say to Joe. What did she say? That she had suddenly remembered that she loved him? No. That was too much to the point. She remembered parts of being in the gas station now but not everything. It was only those final moments before she'd blacked out that she now remembered. She sighed and fiddled with her hands, she had butterflies in her stomach and felt so nervous. How could she have forgotten her feelings for Joe? No wonder he had stayed away, what must it have been like for him?

"Hey Lo."

She stopped dead. Lauren had been so deep in her own thoughts that she hadn't heard the door open behind her. After a moment, she slowly turned and found she was face to face with Joe. He was here. There was something boiling up inside of Lauren and in the next second she had rushed forward and wrapped her arms around him. She smiled as a second later he did the same. They seemed to stay like that forever and it was a while before Lauren noticed she was crying. But it wasn't because she was upset. Finally Joe pulled away from her and seemed shocked at her tears.

"What's the matter?"

"Nothing, it's just I remember now, or at least I'm beginning to and everything is coming back now."

She looked at him and hoped that he'd understand and she wasn't sure she was able to put into words what she was now feeling. He seemed a little confused but eventually nodded and smiled slightly. Lauren felt her heart soar slightly and gazed at him for a few moments more before taking his hand and leading him through the corridors. She was meeting Abbie tomorrow for another assessment and Lauren was hopeful that with the improvement she had made, they may even set a date for her release. They finally made it back to her room and she shut the door behind them. Joe sat down on her bed and looked at her.

"I had a dream and it kinda helped me connect the dots."

Joe took a deep breath and tried to keep eye contact with Lauren but he was nervous. He could tell she herself was nervous as she had suddenly started pacing up and down the small space in her room. Whilst he waited for Lauren to find the words she wanted to say, he looked around her room. On the wall beside her bed was a collection of photos she'd stuck up. Most of them were from the Apocalyptour, they had all given them to Lauren in the hope they would jog her memory but it hadn't worked so far. Finally he blinked and turned to look at Lauren as she sat down next to him.

"I remember how I got my injury."

"You do?"

He stared at her but she didn't look back at him, she only nodded. What else did she remember? Joe couldn't bring himself to ask so they sat in silence for a while. Finally he heard Lauren take a deep breath.

"Joe, I'm sorry."

This surprised him. What did she have to be sorry about? He slowly looked at her and found she was staring back at him. There was a certain sadness in her eyes as if she wanted to say something but couldn't.

"Lauren you have nothing to be sorry about."

"I do, because I forgot about you."

And in the next second she had leant forward and was kissing him. Joe was almost too shocked to respond at first but in the next second he was kissing her back. Did this mean she really did remember? They had never spoken about their feelings to each other but he knew they had made a connection in the gas station and if it hadn't been for Lauren's injury they may have gotten somewhere by now. But now they finally were getting somewhere. Finally she pulled away and Joe tried to catch his breath. That had been amazing. However his mind came back to earth as he heard Lauren wince. Her eyes were closed and she was rubbing her temple. He lifted his hand up to her face but she shook her head and finally opened her eyes.

"I'm fine. My head just still hurts when it has a lot to think about. Normally I lie down for a bit and then I'm fine."

Lauren gazed at Joe as his expression became thoughtful. She tried not to gasp as he slowly put his arms around her and pulled her down. They were facing each other and she closed her eyes as he gently stroked her cheek. It was strange, she hadn't been able to tell him about the dream but it was like he knew. However this revelation came at a price, now, more than ever she wanted to go home. She hated being so far from her friends.

"I just want to come home."

She felt his hand stop against her cheek and a moment later she opened her eyes. Their faces were almost touching. This felt so natural, to be lying here with Joe and Lauren never wanted it to end.

"Don't worry Lolo, we'll get you home soon enough. Because we over at StarKid manor are planning something."

Joe smiled at Lauren's confused expression. Finally he took a deep breath before answering.

"We want to restart the Apocalyptour and we can't do that without you."

His smiled grew as Lauren thought over this for a moment before smiling and nodding at him. He could finally tell her how he felt about her, because she remembered. That horrific day in the gas station was finally releasing its grip on them and letting them get back to their old lives. Lauren sighed happily and closed her eyes again. It wasn't long before he heard her take more even breaths as she drifted off to sleep.

* * *

_A/N: Now I know where this is going I can update sooner I promise!_

_Bye!_


	14. Chapter 14

_A/N: Erm...hello...ha ha so it's been a while, I'm sorry. College has been so hectic and I've been writing other things XD chapter's a going to be longer after this one as it's finally moving on! :D_

_make-love-happen: I know! Hehe and I will now I promise! :D_

_PotterFanatic: Woo! Hehe :D_

_Guest: She did! And here it is!_

_starkidllamas-llama: :D and I know!_

_TearsOfaClown: Hehe yay!1_

_Peaceful Sunrise: Thank you!_

_BabyUrNotAlone: Yay :') glad you liked it!_

_Starkidtheatregeek: :D_

_I do not own the characters, they are based on members of Team StarKid. Any relationships implied are purely for the sake of the story and I am not implying that they are real._

_Enjoy!_

* * *

Lauren walked into Abbie's office and slowly sat down. This was it, today could be the day she was finally given her release date because she remembered now...not everything but it was so much more than before. It felt like she was seeing the world properly again. She smiled as Abbie closed the door and took the seat facing her.

"So Lauren, I hear you've had some developments since our last meeting."

She smiled as she remembered yesterday. Joe had spent the whole day and they had literally had to drag him out when visiting hours were over.

* * *

_Lauren slowly opened her eyes and smiled as her eyes found Joe's. He still had his arms around her and kissed her gently on the forehead._

_"How long have I been asleep?"_

_"Only about a half hour or so."_

_She sighed and rested her head against his chest. Things had moved so fast between them but it felt so right. They stayed in each other's arms for hours and talked about everything._

_"Well I guess now we know in future we talk to each other."_

_Joe laughed at this and rubbed her back. They both must have been blind to have noticed that the feelings were mutual as now it felt like they had always been together. She slowly lifted her head up and looked at him. Her large brown eyes had such a depth to them. But her expression had suddenly become troubled._

_"Mr Wolf broke you leg didn't he?"_

_He held his breath and looked away for a moment, so she really was remembering. Joe suddenly didn't know if he wanted her to remember, that day had ruined their lives and those who remembered still had a tough time, even now. Finally he looked back at her and found she was staring at him._

_"Yeah, I was trying to protect you."_

_Looking into her eyes as she had been pulled away still haunted him at times. Would things have been different if he'd just managed to hold onto her? Probably not but often Joe found himself thinking of this. He blinked and came out of his thoughts as he felt Lauren's hand on his face. Joe smiled at her and they gazed into each other's eyes._

* * *

Lauren smiled as she came out of her thoughts and looked back at Abbie. It seemed Abbie was busy writing notes down so hadn't noticed Lauren's small smile. Finally Abbie looked up at her and smiled expectantly.

"Now, where shall we start?"

She seemed to be in Abbie's office for a lot longer than she normally was but she had so much to say. Lauren felt like she had woken from a dream, her head still hurt but she remembered, and she remembered other things too. Song lyrics and the storylines of books she'd read. It still took her a while to remember everything and at times they had to stop as her mind clouded with a horrific headache but she kept on and after a while she noticed a small smile had started to appear on Abbie's face. Finally Lauren stopped and took a deep breath.

"See, we just had to find the one thing that made everything click."

She returned Abbie's wide smiled and sat back slightly in her chair. All this talking had really tired her out but it didn't matter as it meant she was remembering and her brain was finally starting to get its act together and function normally again. Lauren gazed out of the window, she could see Zoe strolling over to a bench before sitting down and opening a book. The sun was streaming in and it was giving everything a certain glow. It was like the whole world was just appreciating the smaller things, just this once.

"Well then Lauren, I feel you're ready."

Lauren had been so deep in her own thoughts that when Abbie spoke it took her by surprise. She was ready? Really? Excitement was suddenly rushing through Lauren, she could go home? It felt like so long since she'd seen Chicago in the flesh.

"I am?"

"Well you still need to pass the final assessments but I don't think they should be a problem for you. I'm proud of you. We'll schedule your assessments for next week."

A warm fuzzy feeling rippled through Lauren like warm water. She was almost there, soon she would be packing her bags and leaving. Sure Lauren would miss the friends she'd made here but they could stay in touch but she would finally be back in her own bed, with Julia just down the hall and Jaime too now that she'd moved in. Lauren smiled and stood as Abbie did the same and walked over to the door. She said goodbye and slowly walked out of the office. Going home. In as soon as a week's time. Joe was waiting for her back in her room so with a smile she picked up her space and almost skipped back.

Joe stood up as the door slowly opened and Lauren came in. She had been gone so long that Joe had convinced himself that something was wrong. This thought was intensified when he saw the expression on Lauren's face. She looked...upset. Oh no, what had happened? Had Abbie said she couldn't be considered for release? He slowly walked up to her and wrapped his arms around her waist. Lauren didn't look at him for a moment but then slowly brought her eyes to his.

"What happened?"

He held his breath and she looked at him. But then suddenly a smile slowly crept across her face. Why was she smiling? Lauren was beaming at him and had even started giggling. Joe was so confused.

"My final assessments are booked for next week!"

His face broke into a large smile as he realised that the sad expression had all been an act. Joe should have known that Lauren would tease him. He pulled her into a tight hug and then thought of something, there was one way to get her back... In the next second he had lifted her off her feet and was spinning her around the room.

"Joe!"

Lauren shrieked with laughter and Joe whirled her around the room. This was most likely not doing her headaches any good but she didn't care. Finally they slowed and Joe let her feet touch the ground again. They looked at each other and Lauren couldn't help but laugh again. No more dreaming...no more forgetting. She was almost ready to move on from the hostage situation.

* * *

_A/N: So it's all moving back to Chicago now! That's why I haven't been updating as much as I couldn't write on the bus like I normally do as I felt the rehabilitation storyline was dragging XD_

_BYE!_


	15. Chapter 15

_A/N: Hey guys! It's been a while! Anyway I'm back now!_

_Beffax3: Nope it's not done yet!_

_starkidllamas-llama: Hehe glad you liked it! And here it is!_

_ThoseVoicesSingingOut: Yeah they are :')_

_make-love-happen: Sorry it's been so long!_

_TearsOfaClown: She can…_

_HarryPotterAlways11: I know right!_

_Dapper Dino: Hehehe ahh yes…and you should!_

_Peaceful Sunrise: Yeah! :')_

_Mini-star-ninja-kid 132: Mmmhmm!_

_Abbie: Bahaha oh Abbie XD_

_Pottermore2917: Yes, not this one, but there will be :')_

_KeanaHeartsPotter: I will! :D_

_GettingBackUp: Haha it will never end!_

_Fudge-The-Tie: Hello! And first it! (well I would say that hehe) and aww thank you!_

_I do not own the characters, they are based on members of Team StarKid. Any relationships implied are purely for the sake of the story._

_Enjoy!_

* * *

**Two Weeks Later**

Lauren pulled everything out of her wardrobe and carried it in a heap over to her bed. She smiled slightly as she heard Julia grumble. Julia picked up a t-shirt and started folding it up, Lauren did the same and they stood in silence for a moment.

"How have you ended up with so many clothes?"

"Hey! You guys are the ones who brought all my things here."

She smiled as Julia rolled her eyes before smiling. Lauren looked round as the door opened and Jaime appeared carrying three mugs of coffee. She put them down on Lauren's bedside table before starting to pull things Lauren had stuck up off the walls. They were helping her move out, because she was going home, she was finally going home. Tomorrow. She had breezed through her final assessments. Lauren couldn't quite believe this was all real. Tomorrow she'd be on her way back to Chicago. The Windy City.

"Lo, where do you want these photos?"

She blinked and looked round as Jaime spoke. Lauren walked over to her and looked at the photos she was holding. She remembered them being taken now and smiled as she remembered the memories. They all gathered round and looked at them.

"We'll put them at the top of the box so they don't get damaged."

Jaime smiled at her before putting them in a neat pile of the bedside table. Lauren was coming home, everything was finally going right and her coming home was the next big step. They were starting rehearsals again next week for the Apocalyptour because they were doing this and next week they were telling the fans. Jaime was so excited and knew everyone felt the same way. They were on the home stretch and Jaime had never felt better.

She carried on pulling the pictures of the wall before putting them into a neat pile. For a few moments she sorted through a few papers that Lauren had on the desk before putting them into one of the boxes that were on the bed. Lauren really did have a lot of stuff. Surely they hadn't brought all this stuff, she didn't remember them dropping all this stuff off for her.

They spent the next hour or so packing up all of Lauren's things. Julia complained multiple times that they did not have space for all this 'shit' as she put it but soon everything was packed up and the room looked like it had when they had first brought Lauren here. That day seemed so long ago now. But now they were bringing her home! Well she still had to spend one final night here but tomorrow they were all going back. She looked round as the door opened and Joe came in.

"Oh no, it seems I'm too late to help pack."

Lauren rolled her eyes but smiled as Joe walked over to her. She looped her arms around his neck as he wrapped his around her waist. He leant down and kissed her but they pulled away and looked at their friends as there were various calls like 'get a room'. Lauren stuck her tongue out at Jaime and Julia before looking back at Joe. They looked into each other's eyes for a moment before Joe squeezed her and unwrapped his arms.

"So what time do we all need to be here tomorrow?"

"I'm officially signing out at 12pm."

Excitement rippled through her as she spoke the time aloud. In less than 24 hours she would be out of here. Lauren had a check around the room to make sure she hadn't missed anything before following the others out into the corridor. They walked to the social area and sat down. Lauren made them drinks and soon they were all sat down with their mugs. Every so often another patient or staff member came up to her and congratulated her on her discharge. The people here had almost become like her family, a part of her was sad to leave but leaving meant she was getting better. Joe, Jaime and Julia stayed for an hour or so before finally standing up.

"We should get off."

Lauren nodded but smiled, she wasn't sad to see them go this time as tomorrow she would be leaving with them. Everything was finally working out the way she wanted it to. She showed them out to the reception. Tyler was sat behind the desk twiddling his thumbs. He had backed out with his questions so Lauren was easily able to ignore him now. However today he was staring at them as her friends signed out. There was something in his blue eyes but Lauren couldn't quite work out what it was. He suddenly looked at her and his eyes bore into hers. In the next second he had looked away and was smiling at her friends.

"We'll see you tomorrow then!"

She watched as her friends smiled and agreed, although Jaime chanced a glance at her. There was something about Tyler. They couldn't trust him. Lauren hugged and re-hugged Jaime and Julia before finally looping her arms around Joe's neck. She gazed into his eyes and for a moment she forgot about Tyler and the fact she could still feel his eyes on them. Joe brought his lips to hers and kissed her lightly. His arms were wrapped around her and she felt like nothing could ever hurt her whilst she was in his arms. Finally he pulled away and pressed his forehead to hers.

"I'll see you tomorrow."

"I'll be waiting."

She pulled away slightly and smiled up at him. Joe returned her smiled before kissing her again and finally pulling away. Lauren waved goodbye to them and watched the door long after they had left. Finally she turned to look at Tyler as he spoke.

"So how does it feel? Knowing you're going home tomorrow?"

"It feels wonderful."

She gave him a quick smile before turning on her heel and walking way. Tyler's eyes stayed on her until she turned the corner and went out of sight.

Lauren spent the night hanging out with the friends she'd made in the centre. They had a leaver's party for her and ate pizza and watched movies and soon Lauren was crawling into her bed. She drifted off to sleep thinking about the fact that the next day, she would be going home…

* * *

There was silence throughout the centre, except for a whistle. A man was walking along the corridor twirling and set of keys and whistling some tune or other. He stopped outside a door and looked at it. In the light of the moonlight that was streaming in from the window opposite the name 'Lauren Lopez' was visible. The man looked up as a hooded figure appeared at the other end of the corridor, he nodded at him before turning to the door and picking a particular key from his brunch. He stopped whistling and put the key into the lock and slowly unlocked Lauren's door.

He opened the door and stepped into the room. The room was pretty much empty now. Lauren and her friends had packed her up all ready to go. Lauren herself was facing the wall and curled up in a ball. Her soft breathing was the only sound in the room and the man listened to it for a moment. He turned as he sensed the hooded figure behind him. They had a job to do. The man took a deep breath before creeping across the room to Lauren's bed. He stood over her and checked to see she was still asleep. The coast seemed clear so in the next second he pulled her onto her back. Her eyes opened and she stared up at him.

"Hey what are…"

She didn't get to finish that sentence as in the next second the man had shoved a cloth over her nose and mouth.

Lauren struggled against the man but there was a thick fog foaming in her head. She looked up into those icy, blue eyes and they were the last thing she saw before everything went black…

* * *

_A/N: You didn't think I'd write happy fanfiction forever did you?_

_Bye!_


	16. Chapter 16

_A/N: Hello! So it's been awhile :'( but I'm super busy revising! Okay so here we go!_

_PotterFanatic: And you'll hate him even more soon…_

_Peaceful Sunrise: Hehe, I just love cliffies!_

_pottermore2917: Ahh you did? Haha XD_

_HarryPotterAlways11: Sorry!_

_starkidllamas-llama: Haha! There has to be drama before the happiness!_

_make-love-happen: Hehe I just didn't want it to end so I thought MORE DRAMA XD_

_KillingPeopleJustMakesThemDead: Sorry! The ending will be happy…maybe…_

_TearsOfaClown: Wait and see…_

_PigfartsRules: When I first read you review, seriously this is one of the best I have received XD I really don't know why, I think it's just become easy to write her in peril. Glad you liked the chapter!_

_Fudge-The-Tie: Hello again! Sorry this took a while! Its heavy feels!_

_I do not own the characters, they are based on members of Team StarKid. Any relationships implied are purely for the sake of the story._

_Enjoy!_

* * *

The man stepped back and let the hooded figure move forward and pick up Lauren. Her head lolled to the side, she really was out of it. The man led the way out of the room. They didn't pass anyone as they walked; he knew they wouldn't as he was the only night-watchman after all. In no time they had reached the front desk. The man unlocked the entrance door and watched as the hooded figure carried Lauren out. He locked the door behind them and then slowly walked behind the front desk and sat down.

He watched on the CCTV monitors as the hooded figure carried Lauren over to a van and lifted her into it. He climbed in after her and shut the doors, in the next second the van drove away. The man smiled to himself as he sat back on his chair, a nurse walked past and smiled at him. He'd done it, he'd broke the system and they gotten her out. Tyler smiled to himself. The original plan had been to only take Lauren if her little friend Jaime didn't retract her statement. However it was no fun losing, so they were going ahead with the plan anyway. This was going to be fun…

After a moment, he leant forward and pressed a button. The fire alarm started blaring and emergency lighting came on in the corridor. Lauren was already gone but they still had to create some chaos. People were filling the corridor and slowly, Tyler slipped into the crowd.

* * *

Abbie drove her car into a free space in the car lot before quickly getting out. She looked around at all the people around her. It seemed to have been a false alarm but they were still trying to make sure everyone was accounted for. Abbie walked over to a nurse who was just finishing up doing roll call.

"Is everyone accounted for?"

"Everyone except Lauren Lopez."

Her heart skipped a beat. Lauren? Why could she be? They had to find her! Abbie nodded at the nurse before walking towards the building. The fire department had given the building the all clear so she went inside.

"Lauren?"

She shouted Lauren's name as she walked through the corridors. There was no answer to her shouts and an uneasy feeling crept into Abbie's stomach. Lauren was gone. Abbie rounded the corner and stopped as she saw Tyler up ahead.

"Tyler, why aren't you outside?"

"I was looking Lauren, they said she was missing."

Tyler held his breath as Abbie looked at him. She looked untrusting but finally her face softened and she nodded. They stared at each other for a few moments more before Abbie excused herself to carry on looking. He turned away and smiled to himself.

* * *

Julia stared at the ground as she listened to Joe talk to Abbie. Everyone was sat in the social area in complete silence, well except for Abbie and Joe. She looked up and met Jaime's eyes. What did they do now? It was all starting again, they were being dragged back down.

"So you're telling us that Lauren simply disappeared?"

"We're not sure how, but it would appear so."

"How can you not be sure?"

She could tell Joe was annoyed. However they one thing they couldn't do was get angry. That would do no good now. They all listened as Abbie told them again the story of the fire alarm and the chaos that ensued. How could Lauren be gone? They were supposed to be taking her home today but she wasn't here. The police were here and were out searching for her but it was like she had disappeared. It turned out that although the centre had CCTV, it didn't record. This couldn't be happening. But it was…

Jaime watched as Julia sighed and put her head in her hands. How had it all gone so wrong? This was supposed to be the final thing and once they had Lauren home everything would have gone back to normal. Had she just run away? No, Lauren wouldn't have run away. So had someone taken her? The thought made Jaime shiver and she tried not to think about it.

"You'll just have to sit tight and wait I'm afraid."

Luckily for Abbie, someone came in and asked to speak to her privately. Jaime watched as Joe marched back to them and sat down in a huff. She really felt for him, this was hard on all of them but she knew it was hardest on Joe. Why could Lauren be? Was she okay? So many questions and they just kept mounting.

* * *

Lauren slowly opened her eyes, she felt so groggy. Where was she? It felt like she was in a car. But it was dark…it took a few moments for Lauren to realise she was in a trunk, under a blanket. She was gagged and her hands were tied behind her back and even her ankles were tied together. What had happened? The last thing she remembered was looking into Tyler's eyes as he drugged her. She'd known Tyler couldn't be trusted. How long had they been driving for?

She was scared. Where were they taking her? It was all starting again. Was this linked to the hostage situation? Thousands of questions were racing through her head. Lauren was suddenly aware the car was slowing down. Finally it touched and she heard two doors opening and slamming shut. She could hear voices and they were getting closer. Suddenly, Lauren realised they were going to open the trunk so quickly closed her eyes. In the next second the trunk opened. Lauren tried to stay still but as someone pulled the blanket off her face, she couldn't help but squint her eyes against the sudden bright light. She opened them slightly and looked up at the two men stood over her.

"Should we drug her?"

"No, we're almost there and Tyler said it takes a few hours for the effects of the drugs to wear off, so she wouldn't get far anyway."

She looked around were they were to try and get her bearings. Behind the men was a dense forest. Lauren could hear voices close to them and what she could hear, it sounded like a family with small children. She guessed they were at a diner.

"What are they even gonna do with her?"

"I dunno, they said something about using her as insurance or something. I wasn't really listening."

Insurance? Insurance for what? Lauren watched as one of the men looked up over the car as if he was checking the coast was still clear. It also seemed he wanted to know the answer to the same question as in the next second.

"What's she insurance for?"

"Getting Mr Wolf out of jail or something."

The men carried on talking as they stood up and slammed the trunk shut but Lauren barely heard what they said. Mr Wolf. Get him out of jail? No. It couldn't start again and everything was different this time. She was all alone. The hostage situation hadn't been planned but this was. Lauren tried to pull her hands free but they were tied too tight. She screamed in frustration but the gag stopped most of the sound. Within minutes, Lauren had given up and closed her eyes against the darkness. Her head hurt. It was an ear-splitting pain that she hadn't felt in a while… Tears slowly slipped down her face. She wanted to go home.

She didn't know how long she lay there but finally, she heard the men come back and get in the car. The car started and then they were driving again. Lauren tried counting the time but she kept losing count. It felt like it was over an hour but it could have been more than two... She thought about her friends, they would probably have been told by now. Would she ever see them again? The thought made her shiver. What about Joe? Lauren felt a lump in her throat as she thought about him. She would do everything she possibly could to see him again.

* * *

Joe paced up and down the corridor. All his friends were still in the social area but he hadn't been able to keep still. Lauren couldn't just be gone. People didn't just disappear from locked rehabilitation centres. It didn't make any sense. The police were looking in to if she may have run away but all of her things were still in her room. She would have at least taken something if she wanted to run.

"Are you okay sir?"

He came to a stop and looked up. His eyes fell on Tyler who was stood a little way off from him. Joe didn't know what to say to him. Was he okay? No, but he didn't know how to put it into words. In the next moment, he dropped his head and looked at the ground.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

And with that, Joe quickly walked past Tyler and back into the room where his friends were.

Tyler looked on as Joe left. They were falling apart already. Nothing they did was going to help get their little precious Lauren back. They wouldn't get her back, not until if, and when, the conditions of her release were met. The good guys didn't always win; life wasn't like a movie…

* * *

Lauren held her breath as the car came to a stop and fell silent. She could hear the men's voices again and then there was blinding light as the opened the trunk. It was cloudy today, the sky was completely overcast. However Lauren didn't see any more as suddenly one of the men was pulling a hood over her head so she couldn't see. In the next second she felt his arms under her and he was lifting her out of the trunk.

The hood made her feel so disorientated. She was still in the old t-shirt and pyjama shorts she'd gone to bed in last night and she felt so cold. As the man took a step there was a squelching sound, as if he was walking on water-clogged grass. There was birdsong in the air and the rustle of trees but Lauren couldn't hear any cars or sounds of other people except the 3 of them. They were somewhere isolated. The man carried her up some steps, the sounds of his footsteps turned to heavy thuds as he walked across what sounded like wood. They stopped for a moment and Lauren heard a door being unlocked. Then they were going inside.

She did still feel groggy from the drugs but her mind was slowly clearing. However, there was little she could do to fight back as the man carried her through the house. Finally he put her down on what felt like a bed and took the hood off. Lauren blinked and watched as the man left the room. He closed the door but it sounded like he didn't lock it. She stared around the room she was in. They were in some sort of hunting cabin, the walls were made of a dark wood. The bed was lumpy and Lauren moved around to try and wake her arms up.

What would happen now? Would someone else come? They had said she was for getting Mr Wolf out of jail. How long would she have to wait? The two men who had brought her here were in their 20s but she guessed more people would be coming. These men seemed more like worker bees than anyone in charge. She had to try and escape, anything to get away from here. Lauren strained her arms to try and loosen the rope, and then by some miracle, the rope loosened. She managed to pull one of her arms out and then the other.

Lauren sat up and pulled the gag off. She took a few breaths before moving down to untying her ankles. The rope fell away and in the next second she was standing up. She didn't have a plan of escape. Even if she did make it out, she didn't even know where she was. They had been driving for hours. Lauren pushed these thoughts from her mind as she took another deep breath and slowly opened the door.

Luckily, the door didn't creak as she pulled it open. The hallway was the same dark wood as the bedroom had been. She checked the coast was clear before slipping out into the hallway. From one end of the hallway she could hear the sounds of what sounded like a videogame. She guessed that was where those men were, however, upon looking in the other direction, she knew they were between her and the exit.

Lauren crept down the corridor and stopped in the doorway. She was in a kitchen. The front door was straight ahead of her. To her left was an archway into the sitting room. Lauren peeped round and saw the two men were sat on the sofa playing a video game on the TV. If either of them turned, only slightly, they would see her, but they seemed engrossed in their game. Lauren stayed still for a moment before slowly taking a step forward; she had nowhere to hide now. She took more steps and soon, she was in the middle of the archway, she was almost out of sight of them, but then…

"Hey!"

She turned and saw one of them had noticed her. He had stood up and was coming towards her. Lauren bolted for the door and pulled it open. They hadn't even locked it! She started running as fast as she could. It still felt like she was going so slowly though, she didn't have shoes on, only socks and they couldn't find grip on the wet grass. Lauren had probably made it less than 100 metres away from the cabin when she slipped and fell. She could hear the men right behind her but she hurled herself to her feet and kept on running. She looked over her shoulder again but suddenly lost her balance again, but this time, the fall was harder. Her face smacked into the ground and sent shockwaves through her face.

"Come here you!"

Lauren screamed and thrashed as one of the men grabbed the back of her shirt. She could feel blood on her face so guessed she had cut it as she'd hit the ground. The men were dragging her back to the house and Lauren tried to pull away but they were too strong. In no time, she was back inside. Lauren kicked and scratched at the men but then suddenly one of them had pinned her against the wall. They stared at each other for a few moments, the man's breath was ragged and he pulled a hand through his hair before taking a breath to speak.

"This is going to be far harder for everyone if you don't cooperate."

She fell silent and didn't fight against him. Lauren could tell he was stressed. There was such a silence in the cabin. Finally, Lauren relaxed and the man stepped back slightly.

"I'm sure you have a lot of questions but I'm afraid that other than bringing you here, we know nothing more than you, so you will have to wait to ask them."

She slowly nodded and then the men were leading her back into the bedroom. They tied her hands to the metal headboard and left the room. Lauren was sat on the bed leaning against her headboard. She sighed and drew her legs up to herself. She was even colder then she had been earlier, what with her crashing landings on the wet grass.

Now she really did just have to wait. The adrenaline of her flight outside was quickly wearing off and it left her with a deep set fear. This was real. And she had failed at what could have been her only chance of escape….

* * *

_A/N: Sorry! The next update won't be for a while!_

_Bye!_


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